The Alliance of One Ring
by USAthroughout
Summary: The sequel to "The Love of the Wraith" taking place after the end of LOTR: The Return of the King. When it becomes clear that Sauron's surviving followers have not given up, Legolas heads to the Continent and finds an unlikely assistance within Alleyne to stop the Orcs from their plans of domination, eventually grouping up with former heroes also intending to stop their new leader.
1. Chapter 1

As Nathan heads deeper into the forest to find Alleyne's tribe, he becomes appalled to find a female elf and her child dead and bloodied and wonders what is happening to them. Suddenly he heard screaming and saw several elves running away from the forest as many unknown humanoid creatures begin attacking them, shooting four dead in an instant right in front of him.

"What is this?"

As Nathan walks further into the forest, he becomes most visibly distressed when he saw Alleyne and Nowa's dead bodies lying side by side. As Nathan lowers his head to mourn them, something touched his shoulders and when he turns, it was none other than the Swamp Witch now wearing some sort of ring as she smiles sinisterly and impales Nathan with her sword.

It was all just a dream as Nathan wakes up from his bed to catch his breath after realizing he is still back in his own mansion his father had bought for him. Airi was sleeping right next to him wearing a pink short nightgown, slightly exposing her cleavage. Airi hears Nathan getting up and took a look to see.

"Is something wrong Nathan?" Airi asked.

"Nothing much. I just had a nightmare about the elves in the Continent."

Airi becomes concerned. "That dream is most likely unrealistic. Do you mind telling me what that dream is about?"

"It was a genocide towards the elves as I saw creatures I haven't seen killing them. Next thing I saw are the dead bodies of Alleyne and Nowa before the Swamp Witch came and killed me from behind."

"Now I know that the dream is unrealistic. The Swamp Witch is gone remember? There is no need to worry anymore."

Airi embraces Nathan from behind. "I know you still have probably some fears from the war you fought when you first arrived, but remember that I am by your side and always will be."

"Thank you."

Airi and Nathan then lie back on their bed sleeping until the sun rises.

It's been about 4 months since Airi started living with Nathan in his world. Once Airi got more used to his world, she was hired as Nathan's assistant and supervisor to make sure each employee is okay doing his or her job. Whenever there are problems that require extra assistance, she often reports them to Nathan to send help.

Now distancing herself from the Continent, particularly her time with the Swamp Witch, she no longer refers to the Swamp Witch as her Master and no longer dressing herself in a maid attire in favor of more casual clothing and letting her hair down although she and Nathan sometimes use their time off to visit the Continent using Airi's Holy Milk she got from the angels.

After their jobs are finished for the day, Nathan takes Airi out to dinner and a boat ride to get a river view of the city of London going under the London Bridge. Apparently their love for each other is going stronger than before as Nathan and Airi shows no signs of hostility towards each other compared to when they first met. However, as the boat ride continues, the boat suddenly stops under the bridge.

"What is going on?" Airi continues to look around worried.

"I don't know. Hey captain, why did you suddenly stop the boat?"

No response. As Nathan and Airi look around, they found out that everything has froze and they are trapped in a time freeze. Suddenly, Nanael comes out of the portal in front of Nathan and Airi, surprising them both.

"Sorry to ruin your moment, but the Chief Angel did this and told me to warn you that the Continent is endangered. Corruption is starting to take place as the Swamp Witch still has influence on the Continent."

"What exactly is going on there anyway?"

"Too much detail, but let's just say Claudette has fallen under the Swamp Witch's influence and is affecting the land. Do you think you can come to help us?"

Nathan looks at Airi to see if she would agree to help. When she nodded yes, Nathan accepts the mission, but tells Nanael to give them a couple of days to prepare, which Nanael accepts. She then disappears and time starts moving normally again.

"What are we going to do now?"

"Don't worry Airi. It's almost our vacation time so we will tell dad that I will take a trip for a couple of weeks. The couple of days I asked for is just so we have the time to pack some essential we might need. It's time we get rid of the Swamp Witch permanently from this land."

In the Continent…

Legolas finds himself in a small cave after stepping through the gateway and soon sees that outside was a beautiful forest, but is unfamiliar with the surroundings.

"This will take some time for me of getting used to."

As Legolas continues walking deeper into the forests, he suddenly sees Orcs actually running in fear. Legolas heads towards the opposite direction to see what is happening. What he saw was a female elf easily taking down several Orcs coming right at her, even keeping a Berserker at bay, while also finishing off a couple of Uruk-hai.

Legolas was impressed with her skills. "That elf can definitely fight better than many of us."

However, when he sees a Uruk-hai attempting to ambush her from behind while she is distracted with the others, Legolas wasted no time taking out his bow and arrow.

"Look Out!" Legolas yells.

The elf turns to see him and Legolas shot the Uruk-hai by the neck, killing him.

"Nice aim and reflex. 86 points it wasn't for the fact that I was the one they are aiming for. My name is Alleyne and who might you be?"

"Legolas and seeing you fight was very impressive."

"Having a few hundred years of fighting experience does help you know."

When Alleyne takes a better look at Legolas, she is surprised to find another elf in the forest.

"Another elf? It can't be." Alleyne comes closer to Legolas and examines him closely.

"Why would you be surprised that another elf is the forest?"

"A genocidal campaign was made by these creatures a few weeks ago. All of the elves within my tribe in this forest are all gone so it is a shock for me to find another here. This is also the first time these creatures attacked the forest since the genocide."

"I am sorry to hear that. The reason that the Orcs are still alive is the reason why I am here. I need your help to stop them."

"So that's what those creatures are. You are apparently from a different tribe am I correct? I can tell since we both don't really know each other."

Legolas took another look at his surroundings. "I don't even know if this is the same world that I live in."

"I don't want these creatures to come only to hear us so we better head to my home to discuss."

"Fair enough." Legolas agrees to follow Alleyne.

It turns out Alleyne lives in a tree with very large space, allowing her to make a house out of it.

"Since you entered my world as you say. Why don't you tell me who you really are and where you came from?"

"You probably won't understand unless I ask you a few questions about my world. If you know them, it will probably help once I tell my story."

"Looks like one thing I do know about you is that you are very wise in thinking about the situation first. Very well, you can ask the questions to see if I know them."

"I came from Middle-earth, which is the name of my home world. Is this the same world?"

"No, we only have one land in this world known as the Continent. Such a name doesn't even exist here, although I don't know if the humans have found it or not."

"You probably won't understand most of it, even if I were to tell you then."

"Tell me anyway. I will probably learn more about your world through your story."

Legolas gives in, knowing that Alleyne won't give up in learning more about him and his world. "Very well. I am actually an Elven prince from the Woodland Realm, a kingdom located within the Forest of Wilderland of Northern Mirkwood, which is a large forest located in the eastern region of Rhovanion, which in turn is a large region of northern Middle-earth. However, Middle-earth is actually a name used for the habitable parts of the world while the the true name is actually Arda. You keeping up with me?"

"Yes, but what surprises me is that you revealed yourself to be an Elven prince."

"It doesn't really matter since nobody would understand where I came from even is I told them."

"I may not understand too much, but I do believe you. You are right on the fact that I wouldn't understand much about where you came from since I never heard of any of these places. Can you at least tell me what the Orcs are?"

"That you will probably understand a little more. The Orcs are warlike beings that formerly served Morgoth, a divine being who has a lust for destruction and their true leader, but most recently served his most powerful lieutenant, Sauron. Though his physical body was eventually destroyed, his spirit lives on within the One Ring he created to control the other inhabitants and he himself was also destroyed when the ring was thrown into a volcano."

"If all their leaders were destroyed, how did the Orcs actually get here?"

"Sauron used his leftover magic to create a gateway for his followers to go through before his demise. I can only assume that they now have a new leader with a similar goal for domination since they wouldn't be able to take over a small country with what they have now. I came here to see if I can find any resistance to help deal with the Orcs and you are the first one I find who can help me."

"I am afraid it is not that simple. You say that the Orcs are just soldiers, but it might have been their leader's influence that trapped me here. I am cursed to never leave the forest Legolas, even if I wanted to. I am bound by their magic to stay. The curse was placed on me by a heavily armored soldier not long after the genocide."

"I wish I can help. Is there at least others that I can find who can help stop the Orcs?"

"There are some humans you can trust, but I don't know where to find them. There has been prejudice between humans and elves in this world and although the hate has lowered recently, it is still present."

"Although our relationship with Mankind are also a bit estranged, they usually get along better there than here. If only humans and elves could do that like in Middle-earth, it wouldn't have to be this hard to find some willing to fight back."

"If only Nathan was here then both races can unite for a cause."

"Nathan?" Legolas asked.

"Nathan was a human from another world similar to you. He managed to unite both elves and humans for a war against the Swamp Witch, who wanted to stop a tournament known as Queen's Blade to make room for her plans of domination. His influence to the Continent allows us to win the war, but also forces him to leave this world, not wanting to break our traditions. Though I've heard he visited several times, I haven't seen him since the war."

"What exactly is the Queen's Blade tournament?"

"A fighting tournament that happens every four years to determine the Queen who can rule the Continent. Female fighters from all over the Continent come for this chance."

"Hearing that makes me glad that I don't have to stay here. By the way, you already told me a lot about yourself, but can you tell me more?"

"I am a 1000 year old forest elf who also took part in the tournament, but lost. I used to lead a tribe of forest elves since many have known me as the "Fighting Master" out of either respect or fear before the genocide. Now with me being the last elf of the tribe, almost all of the traditions I used to take part of with the others are now gone. What kept me here was being able to teach another student how to fight although she eventually left as well."

"That only adds more of a reason why we need to stop the Orcs and their new leader. They plan to do the same as they had tried to do with Middle-Earth. I know you can't leave the forest, but can you at least help me get rid of the ones hear?"

"That much I can do." Alleyne grabs her spear.

"Let's go."

Back in London, Nathan brought his waterproof bag and puts quite a few military arsenals such as a couple of pistols and magazines, along with small blocks of gold, and Airi brought a backpack filled with food and water.

"You sure we might need weapons for this trip?"

"It's better to be safe than sorry. I am only bringing small ones this time and because I don't have the right currency for the Continent, I do need to bring gold."

"You are probably right. Nanael did sound desperate when she alarmed us with what is going on there. We better go."

The two went to the London Bridge where Airi takes out her Holy Milk and puts one drop into the water. As soon as the vortex shows up, Airi and Nathan hold each other's hand as they dropped from the bridge and into the vortex, transporting them back to the Continent.

As soon as they are back in the forest, they notice that it is very empty.

"This is weird. Usually this forest is inhabited by elves, but it is now empty." Nathan points out.

"I wonder what happened to them?"

"I need to pick up my sword from Rana so we can go there first and then we go search for the elves."

"I would like to see him again."

As soon as both Airi and Nathan reach his house, Rana immediately came out and hugs both of them.

"Onee-chan, onii-chan, you are both here. I am so happy to see you two."

"Last time we saw you two was more than one and a half month ago. What brings you both here?" Cattleya asked.

"We are her after getting some bad news from Nanael, saying that part of the Continent has gone corrupt." Nathan said.

Cattleya becomes worried. "I guess you know Claudette has succumbed herself to power."

Airi becomes a little surprised. "What?"

"A while after she became a queen not long after you last visit, she soon becomes stricter with her laws and has become more ruthless as those who break them are punished without mercy. She manages to recruit some of the former soldiers from the war due to corruption and they are now working for her." Owen explained.

"There has got to be a reason behind this. I know Claudette well enough that she would never fall for this kind of corruption unless something is controlling her."

"Then we better move fast to see what is going on." Airi suggested.

"Wait." Rana runs into the house to get something.

When Rana comes out, he gives Nathan his sword back. "It's been sharpened. Please put it to good use onii-chan."

"Thank you Rana."

"Are you sure you don't want us to alert others to bring guns?" Cattleya asked.

"Not until we find the full story behind the Continent's corruption. It will be too dangerous to make our move at this moment." Nathan warned.

"We'll see you soon." Airi waves goodbye to the family and Nathan does the same soon after.

As they travel deeper into the forest, they found a couple deceased bodies of Orcs lying near one of the trees.

"Nathan, what are these things?"

"I don't know, but they look like the same creatures in my nightmare a couple of nights before."

"Are those actually the same creatures from your dream?"

"Yes, there is no mistake, but I hope that Alleyne and Nowa aren't dead, because that is what I saw in the dream."

Airi attempts to cheer Nathan up. "I don't believe that. I am sure that Alleyne is alive. She is a formidable fighter so there is no way she would be defeated so easily by them. Try not to worry to much, okay?"

Nathan smiles at Airi for her enthusiasm. "If you are so sure then I will believe that as well."

Before they can travel any further, they bumped into a girl riding a blue demonic horse, wearing heavily armored attire along with a blue skirt, cloth pauldrons, and a cloth wrap behind her. She also carries a lance and shield as she was riding the horse. She takes notice of Airi and Nathan due to their strange clothing.

"What do you want from us?" Nathan asked.

"Sorry about that. I have never seen clothing like yours before that's why."

Nathan laughs a bit. "Same here with your horse. We almost forgot to introduce ourselves. My name is Nathan and this is Airi. We both came from a different world."

"I've heard of you two from my former messenger. My name is Annelotte, leader of the Rebellion Army. You've heard of the corruption happening to our land right? Would you be willing to join us to overthrow Claudette?"

Knowing that Claudette was their former ally, Nathan and Airi becomes even more worried about the situation.

Nathan then looks up at Annelotte. "I think we will need to talk for a bit before we decide."

**The start of the sequel finally begins taking place within the timeline of Queen's Blade Rebellion, the anime sequel. It was under the working title The Blade or the Ring. Like the previous story, it is a rewrite of the anime. I had messages from readers about including fan service. Sorry to those, but I don't like writing mature themes so I will keep the content at a minimum for the T rating. Although I did mention to a couple of readers that Airi and Nathan would not be the main characters for the sequel, I changed my mind as I can't imagine them as supporting characters and will give them an equal role for the intended main characters.**


	2. Chapter 2

Nathan and Airi went back to the Continent after Nanael told them about how the Swamp Witch's influence affected the land and population, especially the new Queen Claudette. Not long after they came back, a new warrior named Annelotte bumps into them I the forest, intending to overthrow the Queen with her Rebel Army. She asked them whether they are willing to join her in her ambition.

"Claudette used to be an ally of mine. I know that she won't turn on us like that unless there is someone else behind her tyranny."

"I know, but with the way she is now and the power she has over the Continent, there is no way we can find out who is responsible without stopping her first. I know how you feel about fighting someone who used to be on the same side, but stopping this corruption is the reason why you are here isn't it?"

Nathan turns to Airi. "What exactly do you think of this?"

"It sounds even worse than what the Swamp Witch has done while she was alive. Maybe we better hear more of her story before we can decide."

"Very well. Annelotte, why don't you tell us your part of the story and how everything is going so far? The more you talk, the easier it will be for us to understand the situation."

"Of course." Annelotte withdraws her demonic horse and sits down with the group.

"I was a former member of the Knight Corps of Margrave Kreutz, who is actually my father. What caused me to form an ambition to overthrow the Queen came from a tragedy when she ordered her soldiers to destroy the kingdom. I then retreated to the Elven forest where I was chased by her mercenaries until an elf named Alleyne saved me."

"Alleyne was also an ally during the war against the Swamp Witch. It has been a year since our last contact. How is she doing now?" Nathan asked.

"She is doing okay right now I think. She took me in and trained me to become a better warrior. It was after her training that I started to form an army of my own although I am currently only traveling with a few people trying to organize more members for the cause. The Rebel Army is still no match for Claudette's superior forces, especially since she gathered a new army of creatures I have never seen."

"You mean like those over there?" Airi pointed to the dead bodies of Orcs nearby.

"Correct. Even some of the former leaders who fought against the Swamp Witch has turned to the Queen's side due to her influence. Many of them, including Aldra and Elina joined the Queen."

"Even they would fall under corruption." Nathan becomes saddened after hearing that Elina joins the Queen and fears how the rest of his friends will turn out.

"I made Elina keep a promise for her to become a better person. Is it necessary to kill all of them for the sake of peace?"

"We don't have to kill them. I just want the Queen's tyrannical rule to stop."

Airi becomes concerned. "Nathan, many of our former friends and allies are scattered. It won't be as easy as last time. Do you really think you are ready for this?"

"One does not prepare completely for war Airi. There will always be something that will take us by surprise. I am only doing this so I can save my friends."

Annelotte turns to Airi. "I know that you don't like this, but that is all we can do for the moment."

"Very well. I will do this to protect my new friends." Airi summons her scythe.

"Right now the Yuit, Tarnyang, and Sainyang are waiting in the other side of the forest for me. We better get to them before the others do as they are important members of the Rebel Army."

"We better take care of what is surrounding us first." Nathan notices the Orcs surrounding them and takes out his blade.

Airi, Annelotte, and Nathan's combined skills allows them to overwhelm the Orcs with ease. As they move deeper into the forest, Nathan felt a soft object on his foot. When he looks down, he is surprised to find that the object is the stuffed cat that Nathan bought for Elina during her visit to London. As the only reminder of their friendship, Nathan takes it with him and puts it in his bag.

In another area of the forest, Legolas and Alleyne are seen fighting the rest of the Orcs, who came intending to kill the survivors. Although Legolas is more skilled as an archer, he can hold his own with a sword as he slices two Orcs coming in front. Alleyne sees herself being surrounded and does her signature tornado kick to clear the area. Legolas sees two more Orcs coming right behind her and fires an arrow at one of them to allow Alleyne to take notice and stabs the other Orc in response. Legolas sees a Uruk-hai coming towards him and dodges his strike by jumping onto a large boulder and shoots the Uruk-hai on the neck. The Uruk-hai survives the shot, but Alleyne turns him around and impales him with her spear, killing the large Orc.

"You don't fight bad at all. You have good reflexes although your sword skill definitely needs work. 82 points."

"What is with you turning everything into a lesson? Is that really necessary?" Legolas asked.

"It is just how I do things. You might as well get used to it since I often have to train members of my tribe before the genocide."

"It is no surprise that you find my sword skills lacking compared to my archery skills since I have more experience with the bow and arrow."

"Just make sure you do not waste the arrows. You might need them in case you ever get out of the forest."

"You don't have to tell me what is obvious." Legolas begins picking up the arrows stuck on the fallen Orcs.

Before they were able to continue, they were soon ambushed by undead pirates and on top of them stood a floating ship captained by Liliana followed by other floating ships. Legolas and Alleyne tries to stop them, but are heavily outnumbered.

"Oh my. How cute, seeing a couple of elves trying to stop my army of undead pirates. I knew that following a trail of dead bodies would lead me somewhere and there it is."

Legolas and Alleyne soon find themselves overwhelmed as more and more come to fight.

Airi, Nathan, and Annelotte, however, noticed her ship from a distance, causing them to become more cautious.

"What is with the floating ship?" Nathan asked Annelotte.

"It's Liliana, one of the Swamp Witch's former servants. When they arrive somewhere, it means they want something from the area. We better go stop her."

The three proceed to catch up to the ship with Annelotte summoning her demonic horse, Ambrosius, while Airi follows by flying, as Nathan travels by jumping from tree to tree in a very similar style to a ninja.

Meanwhile, Yuit is seen outside of the tree line with Tarnyang, Sainyang, and her wind-up automaton, Vante. She has apparently lost her patience as she waits for Annelotte to come back to them.

"Geez, how long will big brother make us wait until she comes back?"

"It can't be helped since recruiting members actually takes time. She recruited us mostly by acting alone since our presence often caused suspicion." Tarnyang explained.

"I don't think that is the case. Look over there." Sainyang points to the ships she could see from the hill they are standing on.

"Big brother is in trouble. We better go before something happens to her." Yuit rides on Vante and speed off with Sainyang and Tarnyang following.

It doesn't take long before Annelotte, Nathan, and Airi catches up to the ships, but finds an injured Alleyne in the process.

"Alleyne!" Nathan comes after her and picks her up.

"Come on, wake up." Nathan shakes her a little and Alleyne finally opens her eyes.

"Nathan. It has been a while."

"Never mind that right now. What happened here?"

Alleyne points to the ship that is just about to leave. "They took an ally of mine. He is in there."

"Airi, summon your spirits and get him out of there."

"Understood." Airi calls out about a dozen of her spirits and commands them to raid the ship for a certain individual.

The spirits obey and begin flying towards the ship. Before they can even get there, however, Liliana summons her phantom crewmembers to take out their crossbows, easily taking down the spirits.

"Impossible. Objects can't touch something if they are intangible." Airi protested.

"Her crew members are all phantoms. They can touch both the dead and the living." Annelotte explained.

"Now then, kill them all." Liliana orders her crewmembers as they keep firing from their crossbows.

Nathan draws his blade and easily cuts the arrows that were aiming at him as Annelotte does the same. Airi blocks them by spinning her scythe like a wheel to deflect the arrows.

Liliana grows visibly frustrated. "All right, that's it. Aim the cannons and fire."

Her crewmembers moved one of the cannons within the groups direction, but before they can fire, Vante starts firing her guns on the crew members, disabling some of them, preventing the cannon from being fired. Yuit currently rides on Vante as Sainyang and Tarnyang sneak into the ship.

"Yuit!" Annelotte called.

"Hey big brother. Do you honestly think you can have all the fun without us?"

"Sorry, but we have bigger things to deal with right now."

Nathan and Airi becomes confused by how Yuit addresses Annelotte.

"Big brother?" Nathan mentioned.

"It is an old habit of Yuit's since she says I spoiled her like a big brother even though I am a girl. I know that sounds weird, but you will get used to it."

"I see." Airi also finds their relationship to be unnatural.

Yuit takes notice of Nathan, Airi, and Alleyne. "So are those your new recruits?"

"I will introduce all of them later. Right now we have to rescue my Instructor's comrade, who is being held in Liliana's ship."

"Sainyang and Tarnyang are in the ship right now, but they should have gotten out by now. Vante, carry the people who can't fly to the ship. We'll go rescue the elf, but you better explain yourself once this is over."

As promised, Vante carried Annelotte and Nathan to the ship while Yuit was riding on it. Airi follows behind using levitation. Liliana attempts to stop their advance, but Vante shoots down their attempts using the guns built within her arm, taking out some of her crewmembers.

"Was this machine made from the same technology as the guns during the war against the Swamp Witch?"

"You got it right boy. When a new weapon was introduced, I wanted to find out what more I could make using them and that is when Vante is born, which is the automaton that is carrying you."

Once they successfully infiltrate the ship, they created barricades on the doors to prevent Liliana from coming in, much to her frustration. Once they head further in, they see the sisters fighting some of Liliana's crewmembers and notices Annelotte.

"Well if it isn't Annelotte as well as the new recruits. The elf is inside the door behind us. Get him out of there while we hold down the guards." Tarnyang said as she continues to fight.

When they get inside the door, they were shocked to see that Legolas was merely meditating and unafraid.

"I knew that help would arrived sooner or later, but what took so long?" Legolas asked.

"You could have escaped yourself while we were fighting the guards." Nathan becomes a little irritated.

"I couldn't hear what was going on and it was impossible for me to escape from the inside."

"Anyway, I had Airi plant charges in all of the ships. We better go before they blow up."

Once Liliana and her crew were able to open the door, there was no one inside. Liliana loses her temper and things get worse when the chargers started lighting up. Everyone watches from the outside as all of Liliana's ships are being destroyed by explosive charges as well as most of her crewmembers as the ships starts to drop down.

"By the way Nathan, I didn't see you pack those charges in your bag. When did you do that?"

"I knew that my small pistols wouldn't be enough so I packed a little more with me while you were shopping."

Legolas notices the injured Alleyne and rushes to her. The group also follows and decides to stay until Alleyne is well enough to be on her own again. When Alleyne wakes up, she sees Yuit talking to Nathan and Airi while Annelotte explains what happened while Legolas watches them.

"What? You two were the ones who lead the army against the Swamp Witch? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Yuit complained.

"We couldn't tell you because we were on a mission to save a life. That always comes first." Nathan said.

Yuit turns to Legolas. "So those creatures found throughout the forest are Orcs correct?"

"Yes. Apparently, the survivors of the last battle have found a new leader here otherwise they wouldn't have left. I can already see how much their presence has influenced the land. With the exception of Alleyne, her entire tribe was killed by these creatures and we can't allow the same thing to happen anywhere else."

Nathan turns to Annelotte. "Is this really your entire group?"

"We have more, but they are currently at base working for the Rebel Army so they can't be here. The true Rebellion has not begun yet. What we are right now is just something to fight back with."

"I see that everyone is getting along well despite having just met." Alleyne crawls towards the group's circle.

"Instructor! You are okay!" Annelotte yells out of relief.

"It's been a while since we have first met hasn't it?"

"Only about a few weeks."

"Instructor? Are you saying that Annelotte used to be a former student of yours? What happened to Nowa?" Airi asked.

"Nowa and I parted ways so that she can learn to be on her own. Annelotte was my most recent student I took in after finding her injured and trained her in how to become a better fighter."

"A lot has happened since our last adventure, but it will be something we have to get used to." Nathan pointed out

"How are your injuries? That was some hit you took back there." Legolas asked.

"It's getting better. By the next day I should be able to handle my own before all of you leave to face the new threat."

"You aren't going to help us Instructor?"

"The Orcs used some kind of spell to prevent me from leaving the forest. I don't really know how, but it appears that they still have a little bit of the Swamp Witch's magic."

"Her influence is still present in the Continent. I wouldn't be surprise if we were to find a part of her to, based on what Nanael told Airi and I back in my home world. We only gave ourselves a few weeks before we have to return so all of us better move quickly to stop the threat. As for Alleyne, the Swamp Witch's magic is powerful, but not unbreakable. Airi, do you still have some your Holy Milk left?"

Airi takes out the bottle still half-full. "Indeed. Adding the right amount will be enough to break the curse."

"So Instructor, will you join us?" Annelotte asked again.

"Those creature killed my entire tribe and left me to die alone. I still have unfinished business with them so release me from my curse. I will join you in overthrowing the Queen with the purpose of destroying whoever is behind this corruption."

Airi pours a little bit of the Holy Milk on to Alleyne and everyone sees the spell being released. At the same time, she notices Nathan carrying the stuffed cat he bought for Elina.

"It was saddening to hear that some of our friends have fallen under corruption and that cat is your only reminder isn't it?"

"I want to make them remember what we've been through. I want them to know that they don't have to do this. Like I said before, I didn't make any friends when I was back in London. Every friend I made here is very important to me. I want to help them no matter what. I will not rest until I put an end to this."

Nathan's worries soon became anger. This makes Airi worry herself as she knows that his anger might turn to bloodlust until he calms down.

"Please calm yourself Nathan. I know you are angry about how much has changed, but I promise you that we will help them like we did last time and this time you are not traveling alone."

Nathan calms down and smiles at Airi after realizing what she is trying to do. "Thanks Airi. You are right. Last time I was mostly on my own and this time I have new friends and allies to back me up. With all of us focusing on one goal, we will succeed.

In the meantime, Liliana wakes up from the wreckage and crawls her self out of it with a few of her surviving crewmembers following. Seeing that all of her ships were destroyed, she throws a tantrum.

"How dare they destroy my ships? Once I see them again, I will make sure they pay!" Liliana keeps comically stomping on a piece of the wreckage out of spite and anger as the rest of her crew watches her awkwardly.


	3. Chapter 3

Claudette was reported in her kingdom by the half-angel, Laila, about the failed attack in the forest to eliminate Alleyne. Claudette wasn't discouraged, however, as she believes that fate would require them to work harder to eliminate them, believing that it is the job to stop them is meant for her.

"You don't get it your Majesty. Do you even realize what you are up against?"

"The Rebel Army isn't something to fear since the other kingdoms have fallen after showing resistance against the Queen's rule. Why should I be afraid of them?"

"The former hero of the Queen's Blade War has recently joined the Rebel Army along with Airi."

"So Nathan has come back. It looks like it will be harder fighting against the Rebel Army after all, but we shouldn't worry about it too much since some of his friends have joined the Queen's Army. When the time comes, we will use that to our advantage. As for you, get out of my kingdom and stay in your position like you are suppose to."

"Fine, being inside here makes me feel way too uncomfortable anyway." Laila leaves with a dissatisfied look on her face.

In Gainos, Elina walks by an outdoor market wearing a new black armored attire, feeling uncomfortable with the peaceful surroundings as her sister, Leina, has gone missing. Her attitude has gotten worst since then instead of better, which Nathan made Elina promised. When a ball landed near her foot, one of the kids tries to get it back, but much to his horror, Elina destroys the ball and gave the boy a menacing look, scaring him off as he cries for his mother.

"Where did you go Onee-chan?" Elina thought to herself.

Elina turns to see another kid playing with a stuffed cat resembling a more primitive version of the doll Nathan had bought her in his world. Seeing it caused Elina to have a flashback of that time, hinting that she may still have some leftover feelings for her former friend, but quickly shakes it off.

"I can't be disloyal to the Queen. She is the only sister of the Vance family who is still here." Elina said to herself.

Before Elina can go any further, she starts hearing rumors about former heroes returning to the Rebel Army to over throw the Queen. Elina did not take the news well as she comes closer to the civilian talking about it and lifts him on the neck once she makes contact.

"I am the leader of the Assassins of the Fang, I will not tolerate anyone who dares talking about overthrowing the Queen."

"It's not me who is joining the Rebel Army. What I was saying are just rumors about a former hero returning. They said it is possible he joined the Rebel Army. Please let me go, those are just what I heard, I am not even sure they are true." The civilian begs.

"Do you know who the so-called hero is that dares to overthrow the Queen?"

"Nathan, the former leader of the allied forces. I heard he has returned, but that is all I have, especially since those facts came from other witnesses."

Hearing his name took Elina by surprised and releases the civilian. As people soon started watching Elina in shock, she takes notice and raises her head.

"If all of you don't want to be killed, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The crowd obeyed and returns back to their usual activities, leaving Elina to think for herself.

She then looks up to the sky unsure if what will happen next and again begins talking to herself. "I would have been more than happy to see you if you didn't join the wrong side. I wish we didn't have to fight, but if the rumors are true, I can't allow you to go against the Queen. This is my goodbye to our bond."

Elina then walks away wiping away I tear from her eye, but later forms a sinister smile.

Meanwhile, Annelotte, Nathan, and the rest of the group stop by the next town after taking sight of a crowded battle between female combatants.

"Annelotte, do you mind telling me why there are so many battles all over cities among female fighters?" Nathan asked.

"Claudette recently banned the Queen's Blade tournament, fearing that someone would overthrow her. These illegal battles were made to appease those who still want to fight, but it also puts them at risk since Claudette's army is all over town. I heard that one of the organizers got burned alive after one of the Queen's henchman heard about it."

"That bad, huh?" Nathan continues to watch the fighters with sympathy, knowing that Queen's Blade was not only seen as tradition, but also a lifestyle to them that was taken away.

Annelotte touches Nathan's shoulder. "That is why we must act in order to overthrow the Queen in order for the Continent to return to the peaceful land it once was."

"I would never imagine that things would change this much while me and Nathan were gone. This world looks more damaged than when I left it." The equally dismayed Airi became angry at what the Continent has become under Claudette's rule.

Annelotte turns to Airi. "Don't worry Airi, it won't be too long before the Rebel Army finally has a chance to fight. We even recruited former members of the Queen's Army to our own after finding out how much her brutality has affected them. Sigui used to punish the organizers of these battles, but ended up with us after Claudette tried to attack her."

"It seems as if Claudette might be indirectly helping us with our battle against her by attacking her own soldiers. If this keeps up, the Queen's Army will have barely anything to fight with once the battle begins." Legolas pointed out.

"That is true, but I wouldn't go that far Legolas. We have only recruited small numbers of former members of the Queen's Army, as many others remain strictly loyal to her. We can't let our guard down just because we have a few."

"I can see why they appointed you as the leader of the Rebel Army." Legolas laughs a little.

"You are awfully easygoing, especially since we are going to fight an army that killed my entire tribe and left me to die." Alleyne becomes a little angry with Legolas.

"I am not trying to be insensitive Alleyne. It is just that whenever I am at war, my little friend, Gimli, and me would often hold a contest to see who would kill the most Orcs. My apologize if you think I am a bit insensitive to your situation with them."

Alleyne turns away from Legolas out of embarrassment to his sincerity. "It's okay, but please be a little sensitive with other, especially if they have a bad background with what you say. I am also sorry for not understanding you as much as I should."

"Once I head back to Middle-earth, I have got to stop hanging around with Gimli too much." Legolas said to himself.

Nathan turns to Annelotte. "I have another question. What exactly happened to the weapons that were made from my blueprints after the battle?"

"The Queen attempted to recreate them, but it was no use since many of them were confiscated and destroyed by you and Menace so she had to take the ones that were already made, but we manage to rob enough for about two divisions."

"Good, because we are going to need as much armor and weapons as we can get, especially since Claudette holds superiority over us when it comes to the military."

"We are still trying to get more to recruit to our army and knowing that Claudette still holds the advantage over us gives us more of a reason too since she has high ranking soldiers in her army whose skills surpassed our own." Yuit explains.

Before the conversation could continue, their path to the next town was halted when they find themselves surrounded by female mercenaries.

"Those are the Queen's mercenaries. Apparently, they have spread the word of your return Nathan."

Nathan takes out his sword to prepare for battle. Airi does the same as she picks up her scythe.

"No worries, we will take them out." Yuit activates Vante and aims her arms at the mercenaries.

"Leave some to us." Tarnyang and Sainyang immediately went to their battle pose.

Legolas was hesitant hurting humans, but takes out his bow and arrow anyway. "Let us go and no harm will come to you."

"There is no talking your way out of this you stupid elf." One of the mercenaries smiled sinisterly, as she begins to charge at Legolas.

Nathan and Annelotte stood back to back in the circle. "So Annelotte, how many are we facing?"

"About 20."

"That little, huh? Let's finish this off quickly so we can move to the next city."

"Agreed." Alleyne begins charging and easily takes out 2 mercenaries with one strike.

"I may not need to suck life energy anymore, but I can still fight back." Airi sends out a few lesser spirits to disarm her attackers before showing her true combat skills when she literally flips the two mercenaries by grabbing their arms.

Another charges at Legolas, but moves side to side to avoid his arrow. "Very unwise for you to underestimate my aim."

Legolas releases the arrow after the mercenary hopped into the air and hits her shoulder. The injury causes her to unable to continue and was forced to retreat after she pulled out the arrow accompanied by another. A third attacker attempts to strike Legolas, but he was able to take out his blade and easily blocks her attack. Three of the mercenaries surrounds Yuit and Vante, but Yuit did not faze as she smiles with confidence.

"Let's see how you like it when you fight Vante." Yuit activates Vante's guns and begins shooting all over the mercenaries, keeping them at bay as they struggle trying to keep themselves from getting shot.

One mercenary attempts to ambush Vante and immediately jumps to catch her by surprise. Yuit easily catches on.

"Not good enough." Vante stops one of her arms from firing and punches her attacker, sending her flying a few feet and does the same to another who did the same attempt.

Annelotte easily waves off her attackers as she quickly disarms them, forcing them into a retreat after realizing that their weapons are gone. Tarnyang and Sainyang already made quick work of their enemies as they are seen being knocked unconscious around them. After several minutes, the mercenaries found themselves completely outmatched and decides to retreat.

"Don't think we will forget this!" One of the mercenaries yelled out.

"This was way too easy." Yuit crossed her arms smiling.

"It appears that Claudette's rule as Queen also affected her judgment. She knows we are stronger than that." Alleyne points out.

"Maybe, maybe not. Claudette only sees me as a leader during the last war because of my knowledge rather than skill. She has never seen me fight directly."

"Looks like you gave us another advantage Nathan. Claudette doesn't really know how strong we really are so we will have the element of surprise, but remember that her new army also included Orcs, It is best not to underestimate them as well." Legolas puts away his blade.

"Hey, it seems like the mercenaries left some of their own behind." Airi saw four unconscious bodies lying in front of her.

"They will wake up eventually. We should get going to the fortress." Yui and Vante attempted to leave the area, but Nathan stops her.

"We can't just leave them like this. They will only head back to the Queen if we do."

"What do you want us to do with them then?"

"Take them with us." Annelotte suggested.

"What are you, crazy? These three tried to attack us like the rest of them. They will only try to sabotage us if we allow them into the fortress."

"We still have some of the former members of the Queen's Army with us. We can hope that they can talk some sense into them. We are looking for new recruits, right? It might be necessary to get more from the Queen as well as trying to find more members in the next town."

"For the army's sake, I hope you are right Nathan." Yuit grudgingly accepts Nathan and Annelotte's decision to take the four mercenaries to the fortress, which means that they will have to delay their destination to the next town.

As soon as they reach the sacred ruins of the Calibara tribe, Luna Luna wasted no time in welcoming Annelotte back to the fortress. She attempts to grope, but Annelotte easily subdues her from doing so.

A sweat drop formed on Nathan's head. "Does she always do that to you?"

"You have no idea how much it bothers me, especially when it is done in front of other people."

"I see you brought some new soldiers with you, although I didn't expect you to bring some men with you."

"Do you have any idea who a few of them are?" Annelotte asked.

"No, are they strong or something?"

"That is an understatement. This boy here was the former leader of the allied forces during the Queen's Blade War."

"Wow! You actually got him to be part of the Rebel Army? This is going to boost our morale greatly. By the way, who are those four that Vante is riding on?"

"The Queen's former mercenaries. We were hoping that by bringing them here, they will know from the Queen's former members about what the Queen truly does to them if they fail. We can't just let them go back to the Queen."

"So they are our prisoners?"

"Only if we can't convince them to be a part of us. Right now have them treated."

"Of course." Luna Luna moves away from the entrance to allow the group to enter.

As soon as the group enters, the Rebel Army initially meets them with suspicion. However, when they recognize Airi and Nathan, their suspicions immediately dies away and instead becomes excited that they are here.

"I can't believe it. Nathan is here. It looks like the army might be able to match with the Queen after all." One soldier said.

"Is he really the one who lead the battle against the Swamp Witch?" The other asked.

"It appears that the rumors are true about your return Nathan." A woman in a nun's outfit shows up in front of the group.

"Sigui, it has been a while." Annelotte raises her hand.

"Of course Aneue-sama. I see you have managed to get valuable members for the army."

"It is not over yet. We delayed our destination to the next town, because we have these four mercenaries to take care of. We found them left abandoned after the rest left in a retreat after fighting us."

"I see we have some cleaning up to do with these three. Come on, let's move along so we can have them treated." Sigui leads them deeper into the fortress.

"So how long do you plan on staying this time?" Sigui asked Annelotte.

"Not too long. We plan to recruit more members in the next town."

"I see. It is good to know that we have some valuable members in the Army."

"None of us in the group can stay too long either. With everyone else being under threat by the Queen's two armies, We have to make sure to grab whatever we can while trying to lower the risk of anyone getting caught by her. It already happened once to our newest recruit, Legolas." Nathan said.

"I see. Since you are all skilled fighters, I will leave you with the job of gathering more recruits, but the founder of this army isn't here yet, so do you mind waiting until you meet her. It will be a breakthrough if she accepts you to become a part of the force."

"I am sure we can all spare so time to meet her. Might as well let the rest of you explore the fortress as long as we are here." Annelotte dismisses the group to allow them to get used to the fortress.

Once Legolas is done walking around the fortress, he finds Alleyne secluded in a single room looking out the window at the clear blue sky.

"You look troubled. Is something wrong?"

"I'm okay. I'm just wondering what I am going to do after this war is over. That is if I live to see the end of it."

"Both of us lived through the odds of our previous battles before, so I can't see why we won't be able to survive this one just because the enemy is a little more powerful."

"That's a good point, but even if we do survive, what exactly am I going to do afterwards? All of my tribe is gone and I cannot revive it if I am the only living elf there."

"You maybe the only elf originally from the tribe, but not the only elf in existence. You can still revive it with the other elves instead. I know you miss them, but nothing stays the same forever."

"I suppose you are right, but if I do, will you help me?"

"Middle-earth isn't going anywhere. I am sure my friends can wait a little longer." Alleyne smiles at Legolas' response.

Before their conversations could continue, Nathan interrupts them. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Sigui tells me to call you two out here. The founder of the Rebel Army has arrived and everybody is heading to the entrance."

Once everybody is at the entrance, a woman enters through and Nathan immediately recognizes as well as those who fought in the last war. The woman also takes notice of Nathan and was caught by surprise as well after recognizing him.

"Risty, is that you?" Nathan asked.


	4. Chapter 4

Once everybody is at the entrance, the so-called founder of the Rebel Army makes her way to the fortress. Much to the group's surprise, the founder of the army is none other then Risty herself. Risty also becomes surprised upon seeing Nathan as well as Airi and Alleyne.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon Nathan."

"Neither have I. A lot of things have changed since we last left the Continent."

"I am sure that people here have told you by now how much has changed. Those changes are the reason why I founded the Rebel Army."

"After hearing that from Annelotte, I realized that there is something wrong with this world since peace was suppose to be established since Claudette became Queen and now it is the opposite of what I hoped for, which is why me and my friends here decided to join the Rebel Army."

"Glad to see that you are back my friend. We actually have planned for a surprise attack on Queen Claudette's castle for quite some time and today, the plans of the attack will be revealed to those that will be participating. We will talk later on once we have more time."

"You might want to take it easy on that Risty, we still haven't recruit enough soldiers yet for a full scale attack." Annelotte protested.

"I never said this would be a full scale attack. What I have in mind is an ambush, although I would need a decent size army in order to raid the castle. We can still recruit more members, but a move has to be made in hopes that we can at least delay the Queen and her army from coming to us. From what I have seen, they are currently hunting us like vultures so we have to be careful. Annelotte, do you mind calling volunteers for the meeting?"

"It shall be done." Annelotte leaves the room still concerned over Risty's plan of ambush.

Unknowingly to them, Nowa heard everything from the trees and left without saying a word. Once everyone willing to participate, including Nathan and Airi, is gathered in a small conference room, Risty prepares to unveil her plan of action to the group, but before she can, Nathan notices that some people who volunteered aren't even here.

"Hey Risty, Alleyne and Annelotte wanted to take part in the ambush as well, but why aren't they here?"

"A fair question. You see, the Queen's Army has already planned to attack our fortress for days and Intel states that the attack might be today, so I needed the rest to guard this place with someone to lead them. Even if they didn't attack, we still need our fighters to be alive and well should the attack fail. Do you think that makes sense to you?"

"I guess that makes sense with the Queen's superior army and even if we bring down the Queen, we still have to take care of the Orcs and whoever their new leader is."

"Exactly, which is why many of us wanted to overthrow the Queen as quickly as possible. Now on to the plan, as you can see, most of the Queen's Army is patrolling every city within the Continent, the same army she has used in an attempt to get us out. The Orcs mainly patrol through ruins and forests so as long as we don't get too close, we should be able to avoid them. I am not going to say that there will be no resistance once we enter the castle, because we all know the Queen is not stupid enough to leave her kingdom defenseless. That is where all of you will come in. Our raid will include opening the gates in order to allow you to enter the castle to distract the guards while we make our way to the Queen. Nathan, I am going to need you to come with me in order to overthrow Claudette. Airi, use your lesser spirits to provide the signal for when the gates our open, understand?"

"Of course, but one question, what are you going to do to her once you capture her. She, along with some of her army are also our former friends."

"I am well aware of that. However, there are times when we have to make tough decisions like this. I don't like doing this as much as you do, but many homes were destroyed and many lives were lost because of her. We have to save what is left remaining. What you want to do with them is up to you, but we can't allow Claudette to continue her tyrannical rule."

Airi turns to Nathan. "What do you think? Will you be okay with what we have to do?"

"I don't really want to turn against my former friends, but with what is going on right now, do you think I have a choice?"

Nathan turns to Risty. "Would we have to kill them in order to achieve victory?"

"We don't have to kill them, but with how stubborn they are, we have to find some way for them to relinquish the Queen's thrown."

"Has anyone ever tried to take the castle before?"

"A couple of times with the previous Queen, Aldra. However, all of them failed due to interference from a demon that inhabits her body, but it is gone now so we shouldn't worry about such thing anymore."

"Doesn't seem like it with the Orcs coming here in the Continent."

"That is why people are desperate to overthrow the Queen, so they can focus on the campaign of taking out the Orcs next."

"Very well. When do we start?"

"Tonight. Nights are often the best time to plan an ambush and that's what we are going to do."

Once night hits, the Rebel Army wasted no time in getting to the castle. Using some of Airi's lesser spirits, they are able to fly over the castle, taking out the night guards before they are able to spot them. One of the spirits signaled the army to move forward, which consist of no more than 200 soldiers, which is only a fraction of the entire army back at the fortress.

However, Claudette still sits on her thrown, aware that the Rebel Army has made their move on her.

"So they have finally showed up. It's time to set my plans into action."

Meanwhile, Nathan follows Risty throughout the castle. Apparently, Risty knows the castle well enough to lead them to the Queen, something that surprises Nathan and Airi.

"How exactly do you know where you are going around the castle?" Nathan asked.

"After I founded the Rebel Army, I got caught by some of Claudette's forces and was imprisoned in her castle for quite some time, but not before she showed me the halls leading to the dungeon."

"So how did you get out of your cell?"

"I had help coming from someone known as Maria. I don't know who she is, but she appears to be aiding the Rebel Army, even though she is not a part of it."

"Looks like we have help from the unexpected."

Once they reach the room, they begin turning the wheel to open the gate. Airi continues to watch over the lookout tower and sees a couple of the Queen's soldiers standing guard as if they knew that they were coming.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

Back at the fortress, Legolas and Alleyne continue to have conversations with each other as they stand outside of the fortress, waiting for a possible attack.

"So who do you think will attack us first? The Orcs or the Queen's Army?" Legolas asked.

"I would say that the Orcs are more likely to find us since the fortress is closer to the forest than to her kingdom."

"Maybe so. Remember that most of the Orcs are heavily armored, so it is best to hit them under the arm or the neck."

"Point taken. How many do you think will come?"

"Not sure, but when I only had an army of 500 to back me up, Saruman sends 10,000 Uruk-Hai to fight against us. It was a tough battle, but we won in the end."

"10,000 huh? Based on how many we got, it wouldn't be a surprise if he sent probably 30,000 against us." Alleyne laughs at this possibility.

Legolas smirked. "You can keep laughing all you want at this fact, but with the strength they have now, they can't afford to send more than 1,000 against us, which means that we outnumber them. However, it is still best not to underestimate them."

"You said that you and your buddy Gimli had an Orc slaying contest right?"

"It was what kept us going throughout almost every war we fought together."

"Then how about I challenge you to one to keep ourselves going?" Alleyne smiles at Legolas.

"I thought you were sensitive about the issue."

"Might as well try something that keeps us going, especially when it comes to the creatures that destroyed my tribe. So what do you say?"

Legolas smiles back. "You are on."

Annelotte rushes to Legolas and Alleyne to tell them to get ready. "Orcs are in sight. The Rebel Army is preparing right now for combat and I advice you to do the same. All the traps have been prepared though."

"How many are coming?" Alleyne asked.

"Approximately 500 are on the way, but they are coming from the forest so it is hard to determine their exact numbers."

"Understood. Legolas, let's head to the battlefield." Legolas and Alleyne immediately rushes to Annelotte's direction and took sight of the small army heading their way."

Outside the castle, the army waits anxiously to enter, but began to grow frustrated that Airi hasn't summon the spirit yet to charge. Just as the gate open, Nathan and Risty suddenly heard one of the guards screaming they are under attack. Knowing that they have been exposed, they escaped to the gate to avoid detection.

Nathan sees Airi on the tower and tells her to signal the troops. "Airi, the Queen knew our plan from the very beginning! We have to signal the troops now or risked being imprisoned or killed!"

Airi nodded in response and sends a spirit towards the Rebel Army. When the spirit begins circling around, they knew that it is time to charge. The army wasted no time in making their move and easily took out the guards outside of the gate. At the same time, a small army comes out from the castle heading to the gate and becomes a full battle, which was not intended. Refusing to abandon the army, Risty, Nathan, and Airi immediately went into combat in hopes that they can slowly make their way to the Queen.

To their surprise, however, Claudette willingly steps outside to the battlefield, wanting to see what the current situation is with the battle. Four of the soldiers attempted to attack the Queen, but she easily waves them off with her blade, Thunderclap, releasing electrical energy towards the foes. Seeing this act causes Nathan to charge at Claudette, but she attempts to do the same attack to prevent him from coming closer. Nathan attempts to hold off the attack with his sword, but the energy continues to push him away, while he makes his own attempt to reach Claudette. Nathan was able to get close enough to see Claudette's eyes, only to find them to be lifeless.

"Claudette, what happened to you?" Nathan asked her, but received no response.

"Surround them." Claudette ordered.

Soon enough, reinforcements have arrived and begin to turn the tables on the Rebel Army, surrounding the gate to prevent their escape. This has led to a stalemate between the two forces, with the Rebel Army surrounded.

"Have them imprisoned for defying order."

Before the Queen's Army can get too close, Nowa suddenly comes from above and begins attacking the Queen's Army, clearing the gate for the Rebel Army.

Nathan becomes surprised at her sudden appearance. "Nowa?"

"Never mind that for now, get the Rebel Army out of here while you still can."

Seeing Nowa getting overwhelmed, Airi fights off some of the soldiers coming from behind. "We can't just leave you on your own."

"It will be okay. I know the Queen won't kill me. Just go before it's too late."

"What do you think that makes us if we abandon an ally? Think about Alleyne." Nathan screamed.

Nowa briefly looks at Nathan, who is just as dismayed about leaving her. "Tell Instructor that all of us will meet again. I promise you I will be back."

Nathan and Risty reluctantly obeyed and call for the Rebel Army to retreat, which they did.

"Should we get the guns to stop them your Majesty?" Claudette's advisor asked.

"No, we already have them running like this so it would be pointless to waste what is very limited."

"Understood." The advisor heads back into the castle.

Once the last of the surviving Rebel Army leaves the castle, Nowa stops fighting and becomes wrapped in chains by the Queen's forces.

"You should have left while you had the chance. It is too late now. Throw her into the dungeon." Claudette heads back into the castle as well, seeing that the battle is over as Nowa is being escorted.

With what is left of the Rebel Army, Nathan, Risty, and Airi make their way back to the fortress, only to see many dead bodies of Orcs surrounding the place and being discarded by the rest of the army. Annelotte takes sight of them and immediately rushes to see that a small part of the army is gone.

"I am guessing that the ambush didn't go to well, did it?"

"Claudette knew of our plan the whole time before we even reached their castle and as a result, we lost more than 30 soldiers!" Nathan yells in frustration.

Airi grabs hold of Nathan in an attempt to calm him. "Nathan, we are all just as affected by the losses we suffered as you are, but we should also be glad that the Rebel Army would be able to fight another day. We still have another chance to stop her."

Airi turns to see the army discarding the dead bodies. "I see that you had better luck than we did in fighting."

"We lost about 20 soldiers, but, nonetheless, destroyed the entire army sent to us. Legolas and Instructor were especially effective in battle today. The game they played on who gets to kill the most Orcs really kept them going."

"I thought Alleyne was sensitive about that issue." Nathan pointed out.

"Ask them." Annelotte turns to Alleyne and Legolas, who are also helping to discard the bodies, apparently also talking to each other about how many they killed.

"How many did you have Legolas?"

"A disappointing 31. What about you?"

"38 and I am never doing this again. I feel bad playing such a game that involves killing, even though we are in a battle."

"I don't really enjoy the thought of killing this much either, but I was able to keep going because Gimli challenged me. No way am I going to force you to do such a thing so try not to worry too much."

"I guess it is my fault for suggesting to try it. I wonder how the others are doing."

"You might want to turn around. It looks like they didn't do as good as we did."

Alleyne did what Legolas told her to do, only to see that the army's morale has decreased after they returned and both goes to see them.

"I see that things didn't go so well with the raid." Alleyne becomes concerned with Nathan's displeasure.

"Like I said to Annelotte, Claudette knew of our plan from the very beginning. I figure she wouldn't leave herself unguarded."

"It's sad that not all of you survive, but at least most of you were able to survive the fight."

Nathan looks up at Alleyne. "We actually had a little help from someone unexpected. I am afraid that it might dishearten you to find out who did."

"What exactly are you talking about Nathan? Who helped all of you escape?"

"The one who helped us escape was your friend Nowa."

Hearing her name puts Alleyne in shock that her former student suddenly appears in the raid.

"What? Nowa showed up to fight? Why isn't she with you?" Alleyne becomes desperate.

"She sacrificed herself for us to escape. We tried to get her to come with us, but couldn't get through to her."

Alleyne grabs a firm hold of Nathan out of frustration. "You mean you just left her there to die?"

"I tried to take her with me, but she promised that she would see us again. I want to believe that so you should to."

"She said that, huh? I don't know if I can believe that."

"Don't worry too much. She knows that Claudette won't kill her, which is why she gave herself up. We will rescue her if she remains trapped there."

"Once that time comes, take me with you."

"And me too." Legolas intervenes.

"If she has a friend out there then I want to save her. After all, I promised to help you revive your tribe after this is over and there is no better way to start off then having more friends by your side."

"Thank you Legolas. We will come to Nowa's rescue when the time comes."

"Or when she escapes. I got a feeling she wasn't alone when she entered the fight." Nathan points out.

Back in the castle, Nowa's monkey Lou helps Nowa break out of her restraints after hiding in her clothing after the battle. Nowa then stares outside of her cell window and smiles at the night sky.

"It looks like we will all meet again sooner than expected, isn't that right Lou?"

Lou nodded at Nowa's statement and stares at the night sky with her.

**As you can see, the castle raid scene was inspired by the movie, Prince Caspian. I didn't put too much detail due to lack of knowledge in some parts and it would be too much of a burden if I did add it. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I honestly don't know when the next one will be released so don't look too close ahead, but it will continue.**


	5. Chapter 5

With the Rebel Army still recovering from the attack, their morale has decreased to quite an extent, as many are still affected by the losses suffered. Realizing the dangers of a full-scale battle, Risty did not come make any major plans to attack Claudette due to the casualties and being heavily outnumbered. Instead, she focuses on small-scale operations with Annelotte such as recruitment and slow-paced plans to liberate the cities they go into from Claudette's Army.

"So what should we do next Annelotte?" Nathan asked.

"Tomorrow, we will continue the same journey to the town we were originally heading to, but got delayed, because of all that has happened recently. I can already tell that you, yourself, haven't fully recovered and I want us to be at our best when we leave."

"Understood." Nathan left Annelotte and Risty without saying a word, which worries both girls.

"Do you know what is wrong with him?" Risty asked.

"I think he is still feeling a little guilty over the failure of the raid, especially hearing that he was forced to leave Nowa behind. He doesn't know if Alleyne holds anything against him because of that."

"I am sure that if Alleyne considers him a friend, she would understand." Risty assures Annelotte.

Annelotte's guess on Nathan's trouble is almost to the point as Nathan makes his way to Alleyne, who is currently cleaning her spear in another room. Both immediately took notice of each other as Nathan enters.

"Nathan? Is something wrong?"

"I kind of feel like talking to you, but before that, where is Legolas?"

"He was just here not long ago, but went to help the injured troops from the failed assault. What exactly do you want to talk to me about?"

"What happened to Nowa has actually been bothering me for quite a while. I definitely regret leaving her behind even though she forced me to. There is no way I can get over this without knowing what you are thinking since Nowa is your best friend."

"I can tell that you feel sorry for leaving Nowa behind. I don't blame you since Nowa's decision is her own so you don't have to worry about that part since I have already forgiven you. I am worried about Nowa to, but knowing how she is now, I am pretty sure she can handle herself. I would give her 76 points for her courage, but it would have been more if she hadn't acted alone."

Nathan smiles at Alleyne. "All right, if you believe in Nowa that much then I will do so as well. It is also good to hear your old self again after this ordeal."

"When you say old, I hope you did not mean my lack of involvement with men."

Nathan laughs at Alleyne's assumption, which she did not take well. "What is so funny?"

"I can't believe you thought I would assume that. I meant that I am glad seeing you are back to the way you are."

Alleyne becomes slightly embarrassed, but after looking at Nathan laughing, she soon starts laughing herself.

"By the way, you have gotten awfully close to Legolas ever since we first met him. How do you describe this kind of relationship?"

Alleyne becomes hesitant after hearing Nathan's question, quickly becoming embarrassed since she never put much thought into having a relationship. After thinking for a few minutes, she looks up at Nathan.

"I don't really know what to think about him, but I can say that he is probably the closest friend to me who is actually an elf. He is the only elf I know who treated me like a friend and one of the only two people I felt I can actually care about with the other being Nowa. I guess that is my thought of Legolas, at least for now."

"Glad you find another you are close to although I feel kind of sad that you left me out of the equation."

Alleyne quickly realizes her mistake and desperately attempts to correct it. "Sorry, I meant you too, but you kind of caught me off-guard with what you asked and I didn't know how to really respond properly. I promise you that you are a true friend to me. I didn't mean to leave you out."

"Good to know. I am glad that Legolas is helping you out. Hopefully, things will work out for the best."

"By the way, do you think we will have another chance to visit your world again? There are still a lot of things I would like to explore there."

"I would definitely like to bring all of you for a visit once the chance comes. The only people that make my life worthwhile in London are my parents and Airi. Other then them it feels pretty empty."

"I will be looking forward to when the time comes."

Nathan leaves the room to meet Airi in another room, leaving Alleyne alone to clean her spear as she smiles at the possibility of a brighter future that both Legolas and Nathan can provide for her. Once Nathan reaches near the entrance, Mirim started staring at him as she is not used to fighting alongside with guys.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Sorry, but I am not used to having boys here other than within my own family. It sometimes makes me curious on what it would be like."

"I don't blame you since about 70 percent of this army are mostly girls. You will see what it's like when the time comes."

"Thanks Nathan. I almost forgot, my name is Mirim, a former member of the Queen's Army who defected to the Rebel Army."

"Glad to see more of the Queen's Army defectors coming to our side. We will all be fighting together soon enough so be ready when the time comes."

"Of course." Satisfied with her conversation with Nathan, Mirim leaves happily to return to her position, assisting the blacksmiths in making weapons for their soldiers.

"Blacksmiths huh?"

Nathan turns to Airi. "Speaking of which, when was the last time we saw Rana and his family?"

"We haven't seen them since we our first stop to pick up your weapons. Why would you ask that?"

"With Claudette's Army occupying the Continent in search for us, won't they be endangered of being captured for assisting us?"

"I am worried about them to, but they are not weak so I believe they will make it, although I wish we would have found out about the Rebel Army sooner so we can take them with us."

"You and me both Airi. You know, ever since we got back here, we have been distancing ourselves from each other due to past events leading up to this. I am not blaming you or anybody, but what do you think of our relationship right now?"

"There is definitely some distance between us ever since areeing to help out the Rebel Army, but it couldn't be helped. Nonetheless, it doesn't stop me from looking forward to spending time together once this is over."

"Like Alleyne, I am hoping that this will be over soon so we can get back to our lives."

Nathan and Airi exchanged smiles to each other before getting back to their positions.

Meanwhile back in the castle, one of the guards comes down to the dungeon to check on Nowa only to find her cell open.

"What? Where is she?" As the guard sticks his head into the cell, Nowa, who is hanging on the top rim of the cell, swings behind him and kicks him, locking him up.

"I can't believe you easily fell for that."

"How did you get out?" The guard yelled.

"Sorry, but that is a secret. Don't worry, another guard will come and get you at. See you later." Nowa left the guard in the cell and uses her agility to find a way out of the castle without alarming anyone.

As soon as Nowa gets outside to one of the castle towers, a woman sits right behind where she is standing, apparently aware of her presence.

"What took you so long?"

"Sorry about that Maria. I didn't expect the Rebel Army to come this quickly so I had to go with the back up plan."

"I guess that is understandable. You plan on hiding yourself or join the Rebel Army to overthrow Claudette?"

"I will join when the time comes. Until then, both of us have to assist the Rebel Army anyway we can without causing too much activity."

As soon as Maria yawns, she knows that it is time for her to retreat. "I am starting to experience Narcolepsy so we will have to talk about this some other time. Take care."

"You too Maria." Maria left in a hurry after she and Nowa said their goodbyes.

The scene switches over to the next town where two kids were being chased by one of the Queen's mercenaries for stealing food. The mercenary easily outruns the kids, but before she can make her next move, Yuit orders Vante to attack and easily subdues the mercenary.

"Never steal from someone you can't outrun." Yuit lectures the kids as the rest of the group arrives.

"I see that you easily took care of the enemy mercenary, but you didn't have to get Vante to hit her that hard." Nathan pointed out.

"It couldn't be helped, especially when children are involved. I just had Vante attack out of reflex."

"Right." Nathan said sarcastically.

"So what is the next mission here?" Yuit asked Annelotte.

"First we have to lay low since this city is obviously crawling with soldiers from the Queen's Army. Then we can slowly work our way to getting information we need from these townspeople."

Before they can continue any further, they spotted Liliana, who collapsed from exhaustion.

"Liliana without her ship? That is a rare sight to behold." Tarnyang said.

"She doesn't appear to be a threat at this moment, but is better not to let your guard down." Legolas warned.

Nathan slowly approaches Liliana and shakes her. "Hey, are you okay? What happened?"

Liliana wakes up and immediately recognizes her former attackers, immediately stepping back away from them.

"I recognize all of you. You all destroyed my ship from our encounter in the forest. Are you trying to get some revenge from that event?"

"No. We didn't expect you to be here actually. That is why I am asking what happened to you? Where is your ship and crew?"

Liliana angrily takes sight of Annelotte, Yuit, Vante, Sainyang, and Tarnyang. "They are the ones who destroyed my crew and my ship, along with one of the Queen's associates, Ymir."

"I am guessing they did not tell you anything while the rest of you were preoccupied did they?"

Legolas, Nathan, Alleyne, and Airi turns to them and eyes them with suspicion, making them nervous.

"What exactly did you all do?" Alleyne asked.

"We were sent by Risty to get Intel from an ally inside of a nearby village, but when we got there, Liliana was raiding it so we had to do what we can to stop it."

"Well that explains why, but you said another person named Ymir also got involved. Who is she and why did she do so?"

"Ymir is a dwarf who works as a blacksmith as well as running the Iron Mountain weapon factory, known for forging top-quality weapons and entering Queen's Blade to prove the weapons" superiority over others. After she lost, her weapon was broken by Claudette and by her clan's law, she is forced to submit to her demands where she becomes one of her closest associates, making her an official member of the Queen's Army." Alleyne answered.

"That little girl took Vante and caused her to destroy my ship! This is the second time my ship collapsed for the same reason! The next time I see her, I will kill her!" Liliana screamed.

"I am guessing you are not part of the Queen's Army based on your behavior."

"Nope, I used to work for the Swamp Witch until her demise at your hands. I am currently under the leadership of whoever commands these Orcs. Before you ask anymore, I don't know who the leader is. I was promised a crew if I joined their army, but with my ship destroyed a second time under their command, they probably won't take me back so I used my surviving crew members to make plans to raid villages to get what we need."

"So you only raid to survive? It looks like you are taking more than that. Why can't you just get what you need and where is the rest of your crew?"

"I can't help it since I am a pirate. I lost control of my crew since the last attack. They still obey me, but it doesn't matter if I don't know where they are."

Suddenly Nathan takes out his blade and holds it near Liliana's neck. "Sorry, but there is no way I will let you do what you want. It would have been easier if you had just stop causing trouble."

Liliana remains unintimidated. "Oh, so you plan to kill me?"

"No, but you will need to be our prisoner until all of this is over. The problem is that somebody has got to take you."

"We will do it." Tarnyang volunteered.

"I am sure all of you can handle yourselves until we get back. See you until then." Sainyang told the group before leaving with Liliana after tying her up.

"Now that our group has less members, we have got to be more careful knowing that enemy troops are occupying the city." Legolas points out.

"We don't need to be that overcautious Legolas. I remember just three of us traveling through occupied cities before all of you suddenly came and join the battle." Annelotte said.

Nathan defense Legolas' action. "It can be helped since I was like that when I first came here. It takes time to get used to your new surroundings so I don't blame him."

"By the way, where do we plan on stopping first?" Airi asked.

"It was a long walk getting here. I suppose that we should do what Risty said and lie low for a while to get some rest. I know a restaurant in this city so let's go there."

While eating, the group still lock themselves up in a conversation on how to get recruits and how the city can be liberated without causing too much activity. Before their conversation could continue, screams were heard from the outside. The group immediately rushes and grabs hold of one of the runners to get answers.

"There are some ugly creatures heading from the forest killing everyone. We are all running for our lives."

"Ugly creatures. Does he mean the Orcs?" Annelotte asked.

"Most likely. We can't allow the Orcs into the city. Airi, can you fly to find out how many are coming?" Legolas asked.

"About 200 are coming, but they haven't reach the city yet. Is there a plan to stop them?"

"With the Queen's Army also retreating from the unknown attack, we should be able to make a move to block them. Find as much flammable material as possible. We will create a trail of fire near the tree line to block their path." Nathan ordered.

Everyone did as they were told as they scramble the restaurants to get wooden boxes, spices, oil, etc. Airi took a more wide approach by summoning her spirits to find more materials and have them set. Once all the materials have been gathered, the group waits for the Orcs to come.

"There are only a few of us so we can't do a direct assault." Alleyne warned.

"I know, but we have to hold out as long as we can so the town's people could retreat. It will be a while before the Rebel Army could hear about this even though I sent a spirit to report them." Airi said.

As soon as the first line of Orcs comes out of the treeline, Nathan throws a grenade on top of the gathered materials. After a few seconds, the entire line of materials was ignited in flames, immediately setting those on top of it on fire, eventually killing them. Realizing that the rest of the Orcs were caught off-guard, the group takes this opportunity to ambush them, taking down as many as they can before they themselves are possibly taken out.

"The entire town has retreated, but it looks like we won't be able to stop them from taking over the city as we had planned. There are too many." Yuit complained.

"We still have to hold regardless. We already took out this many, I don't see why we can try again." Nathan attempts to motivate the group to keep fighting.

Before the battle continues, two figures suddenly dropped from the sky and crashed down on to a small group of Orcs in front of the group, temporarily stopping the battle. Once the smoke clears, the figures are revealed to be Maria, a masked woman warrior, and Nowa."

"Nowa?" Alleyne said in disbelief.

"Did you all miss me?" Nowa smiled.

**I am really almost starting to run out of ideas for this story. This isn't something that I wanted to do, but I might have writer's block so until then, the story might have to be put on hold unless I can think of new ideas within my usual writing period.**


	6. Chapter 6

Back in Minas Tirith, Aragorn looks up to see the now peaceful sky on top of his throne as Arwen approaches him.

"Are you worried about Legolas?" She asked.

"Not as much as I should be. I am sure that Legolas can handle himself on his own, but I do wonder whether he can find his way in the new world and maybe successful enough to gather an army to fight against the last of the Orcs."

"You and Legolas have been at odds before in your previous battles against them. I am sure that he can find his way around them."

"I think so as well. I am just not used to having Legolas gone for long periods of time. There are a lot of mysteries in this world and outside that nobody knows about."

"Maybe we can do something for Legolas when the time comes."

"And when it does, we will be ready. I got a feeling that the Orcs won't be the only obstacle he faces in the new world." Aragorn took the matter very seriously and left the throne, worrying Arwen.

The next scene switches back to the Continent where Annelotte, Nathan, and the rest of the group attempted to fight the Orcs, intending to destroy the town. They find themselves heavily outnumbered and slowly overwhelmed, despite creating a massive delay to allow people to escape. Before the Orcs were able to fight back, two female warriors came down and knocked a small group of Orcs that were in very close distance to the group. Everyone immediately recognizes that one of them is Nowa, while the other warrior calls herself Maria.

"Hey everyone, did you all miss me?" Nowa asked.

"You have no idea." Nathan smiled at Nowa's presence.

"Never mind the formalities for now. We still have a city to safe." Legolas told them as he dodges one of the Orcs sneaking behind him and shoots him with an arrow in response.

"Come on, let's finish them off." Maria takes out her sword and easily disarms her opponents.

Alleyne and Nowa begin fighting together again and watches each other's back as more attempted to ambush the fighting duo. Nathan and Airi had no problem taking down their foes as he can read his opponents possible moves due to his martial arts background. Annelotte, Yui, and Vante had the same result as the rest, especially due to Vante's superior firepower.

It took about less than half an hour before the surviving Orcs retreat, leaving the group somewhat exhausted.

"Well, most of the people have already retreated from town. Anybody want to go back to the fortress to get some rest?" Nathan asked.

"I wouldn't mind, but we are already this far so I think it is better if we just find a spot in the forest to rest. It won't be dangerous since the Orcs have already retreated from the area due to heavy casualties," Nowa answered.

Alleyne nodded at Nowa's suggestion. "Agreed. We have just left the fortress not too long ago and it will be pointless to start all over by coming here."

"We will do it your way, but we better get more supplies while we are still here." Nathan and Airi immediately move to empty restaurants and stores to restock their inventory, with the rest eventually following.

They finally make a stop in a forest next to a lake with a small waterfall. Apparently Nowa still shows attachment not only towards Alleyne, but Nathan as well.

"So good to see you again Nathan." Nowa immediately jumps to Nathan and gives him a hug, much to Airi's dismay.

"You better not act too friendly towards him Nowa."

"I think Nowa is just excited to see us again. It has been a while since we last saw her." Nathan attempts to cheer Airi, but to little avail.

"Then why is she only hugging you?" Airi becomes even more jealous as she continues to stare at Nowa hugging Nathan.

"Aw, what's the matter? Is your lover getting a little jealous?" Nowa continues to tease Airi.

"You are doing this on purpose aren't you?" Airi gets up and pulls Nowa out of anger.

Before a fight can ensure, Nathan intervenes. "I don't want to see any fighting so you two better calm down."

Seeing that Nathan is serious, the two backed off from each other, although that doesn't seem to stop them from going against each other in more minor confrontations.

"You are getting quite popular, aren't you Nathan." Annelotte teases Nathan about his situation.

"I really hope that things don't turn for the worst if anymore girls we reunite with suddenly do something unexpected out of excitement. It is really a pain sometimes when arguments happen over such little things. Why don't we all take a swim to calm ourselves?" Nathan sighs.

"Agreed!" Nowa yelled.

Only the girls changed into their swimsuits, although Legolas allows himself to take off his armor to lessen the weight on his body. Nathan goes to the waterfall to wash his face to rid himself of fatigue. From behind, Airi approaches him in a shy manner as she attempts to speak with him.

"Hey Nathan…" Airi blushes.

"Yeah?" Nathan turns around to see Airi wearing a white bikini she got from one of the stores.

"I wanted to get a new swimsuit for a while, but I didn't want to show you until we go swimming again. What do you think?"

Nathan was briefly mesmerized, but quickly snaps out of it. "Wow, you look really cute in that one."

Airi immediately raises her head after hearing Nathan's answer. "You really think so?"

"Makes me wish I had my camera with me now."

Airi blushes even more at Nathan's comment. "Don't be such a pervert."

Nathan laughs at Airi for taking him seriously. "Don't worry, that is just what I think about how good you look in it. Even if I do take a picture, it will be a good memory to both you and me."

"Then I wouldn't mind having a picture in this if you would be in it with me."

"I have a camera inside my bag. Do you want to take it now?"

Airi becomes surprised. "You actually brought a camera for this? You really are a pervert."

"Don't misunderstand Airi. I didn't even know we are going to swim until now. I was hoping that I could have some picture of my friends before saying goodbye again, although knowing them; they would probably find a way to get to London again just as it was done last time. Still, there is no way I would leave here without making a memory."

"If you put it that way then I guess that's okay. Let's go get your camera for the picture."

Nathan and Airi immediately reach for the bag and took out the camera. As Nathan promised, he puts himself in the picture on holds Airi by the shoulder while holding the camera in front of them before clicking. After the picture was shot, both Airi and Nathan looked at the camera to see how it came out.

"What do you think Airi?"

"It came out pretty good. Looks like that is one memory we made here."

Before their moment could continue, Nowa splashed water towards Airi and gets her entire body to be wet.

"Are you going to continue your love act or are you going to swim? Swimming is what a swimsuit is used for when you wear it."

"Nowa, I am going to get you for this." Airi immediately jumps into the water and starts splashing Nowa, while the other does the same.

Seeing that all of the girls are having fun in the water, Nathan lays down on a large boulder to relax, although he still feels anxiety towards his friends as he fears what may happen to the rest due to Claudette's tyrannical rule.

Legolas notices that although Alleyne has changed into her swimsuit, she still trains as if there was a nearby threat heading her way.

"Why are you training so hard by yourself instead of being with the others and enjoying yourself?"

"How can I relax? A lot has happened to be in my recent history. What it did was made me feel weak. I wanted to get stronger so I can avenge my tribe's genocide. Nothing will get down if we are here just to relax."

"I thought we have already talked about this. I know you haven't completely got over what happened to your former tribe, but we got to focus on what is happening now."

"You don't think I am aware of that? I was unable to protect my tribe with my strength and I don't want my friends and students to end up like them, which is why I am training to make myself stronger. If I lose everyone here, my life will only be filled with pain and misery and I will have no one to turn to for that. I already almost lost you once and I don't plan to have the same thing happen again." Alleyne starts lowering her head and sheds a tear from her eye.

"You need to have more faith in your friends Alleyne. They can handle themselves and we can also protect you the same way you promised to protect us."

"I don't want to keep relying for help or else I might get too dependent on them."

"There is nothing wrong with getting a little help every now and then. It will be just as burdening to you if you act alone. I want you to believe that your friends are trustworthy to help Alleyne. We all had the same feeling of regret at some point and we want to help you overcome yours."

"The past still lives within me. You can't get rid of it as it is now a part of you."

"That doesn't mean you cannot overcome it. We all did and now is your turn. Don't think about the past too much and focus more and the present and future."

Legolas turns around to see the rest of the group relaxing happily. "They all helped each other in dealing with the pain of their past. Let us assist you in doing the same."

"You are just like Nathan."

Alleyne takes a look at the group and realizes how much she stands out among the rest. When she finally sees how Legolas' advice can help her, she smiles and walk towards the group.

"Thank you." Alleyne said as she passes Legolas.

Nowa was the first to take notice of Alleyne's presence. "Hey Instructor, what are you going to do?"

"I am probably going to relax a little with my friends first, then I will head into the water to spend time there."

Nowa laughs in response. "You seem a lot more relaxed today. Is everything okay to you?"

"Everything is fine for now. I don't want to dwell on the past too much so I am going to relax for a bit."

"Okay." After Nowa turns her attention back to Airi, she got splashed again on her head.

Airi apparently hasn't let go of the fact that Nowa ruined her moment with Nathan, although she has become more playful with her instead of being competitive. Nathan moves towards Alleyne, seeing that her behavior has changed a bit since they got to the lake.

"I am guessing that Legolas was the one who helped you learn how to relax, right?"

"You're not far off. Legolas did help me deal with some of the stress I have dealing with my past and it is though both him and you I learn to trust my friends more."

"I am glad to see that some things are still progressing in this world. A lot fell under Claudette in the way I see it."

"I feel the same. What has actually regressed was the entire Continent itself, including most of our friends and allies. What has progressed, however, is our ability to make new ones and our desire to protect them. The only person I ever cared about before I met you was Nowa. This is no longer the matter we are all together fighting for each other. I want to protect everyone here if I can."

"So do I. Glad to see that Legolas helped you put through and I wish you two the best."

Hearing that surprises Alleyne as she immediately gets up and turn towards Nathan. "What do you mean by wishing us the best?"

"I often see you two together often so I assumed that you have made a relationship with him. Sorry if I caused a misunderstanding."

"It's not that. I had never thought of us being in a relationship before. I often see Legolas as am important friend and ally. I didn't really think past that point."

"I guess that makes sense since the only guys you are close to is me and Legolas after living so long. Those who had never been in a serious relationship before tend to be confused about it. They don't know what they feel about it or what is considered as a real relationship among those they love or care about. You are not alone in this Alleyne. I met a few people in London who faced the same ordeal."

"Then what do you suggest I do?"

"Give it some time, your own feelings will become clear eventually, especially when you are already around the people you care about."

"It makes sense. You are the second person I have to thank today for helping me through my ordeals. I swear that if this continues, I will become too dependent on you and Legolas to help me fix my personal problems."

Nathan laughs. "I guess. I better head to the water or Nowa and Airi will never stop fighting."

Nathan tries to separate Airi and Nowa, but he got splashed instead and now plays along with the two girls as Alleyne watches.

Unknown to them, Nanael is currently sitting on top of the waterfall watching them play and relax, much to her frustration.

"Great, the whole group is playing and I am stuck giving updates of their situation to the Chief Angel as well as finding Laila. WHY DID YOU JOIN THE QUEEN"S ARMY WITHOUT PERMISSION? I wish I could go play with them. It has been a while since I have talk to some of them. Why am I stuck here?"

Nanael drops her head down as she continues to complain about her job.

In the meantime, Annelotte sees Maria falling asleep as she lies below a tree, not knowing that Maria often experience sudden cases of narcolepsy when traveling.

"Maria? Maria?" Annelotte gently shakes, but received no response.

"Jeez, how many times can you sleep a day?" Annelotte gives up and heads back to the group.

"Where were you at Annelotte?" Nathan asked.

"I was checking on Maria. She tends to sleep very often, even when we are on the move. It's hard to wake her up most of the time."

"Based on what you told me, it seems as though Maria has narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder that is characterized by excessive sleepiness and sleep attacks in inappropriate times due to abnormal daytime sleep patterns."

"Maria gets a full night sleep yet, she often gets more sleep during the day than during the night."

"That is what narcolepsy does to you no matter what. Do you know how Maria got this disorder?"

"I have met her only about two or three times and she never tells us too many stories about her adventures. I don't really know if anyone has knowledge of what happened to Maria during her travels."

"At least she has good fighting skills. They are similar to Leina's in a way when I saw her fight those Orcs. As for Maria's condition, I think I can treat it, but I can't cure it. When my mom left, my dad's stress causes him to have the same disorder, which took him five years for him to get over. My bag has a small first aid kit, which is where I keep most of the medicine in case dad accidentally falls asleep during one of our trips, though using it now when she is asleep might not be a good idea."

"Then let's wait until she gets up. You know, sometimes I think of you as a problem solver Nathan."

"I am from a different world. You have no idea how much there is compared to here."

"Really? Think I can make a trip there?"

"Can't say for sure, but we will see."

After their brief conversation is finished, Annelotte goes to the lake while Nathan turns towards Maria to get a closer look.

"I already know who you are Leina. Don't worry, your secret will be kept safe until you are ready." Nathan told Maria even though she is asleep and cannot hear.

After Yuit lost a splash battle with Nowa, she decides to use Vante to make a bigger splash, only to accidentally send everyone out of the lake upon impact.

"We were only playing and yet you went as far as to send us out of the lake?" Annelotte becomes angry with Yuit.

"Sorry big brother. I accidentally got out of control with her."

"Never do that again." Airi said as she gets up from the boulder she landed on.

As the group attempts to relax, a few mercenaries slowly approaches Rana's house as he and his family are making weapons for the store. Nathan senses the disturbance.

"Is something wrong?" Maria asked after she finally wakes up.

"I need to do something for a bit. I won't be too long so I want everyone to wait here if you don't mind."

"No problem. I will just go back to sleep again."

"Wait." Nathan grabs his bag and takes out two bottles of Xyrem and gives it to Maria.

"I almost forgot, this medicine will help treat your sleep attacks temporarily so I expect you to take one every morning. Any more than that will be dangerous for your health."

"I guess you knew of my condition. Thank you for being concerned."

"Right. Anyway, I have to go. See you in a bit." Nathan left as Maria examines the medication, not knowing what to think of them since it was brought from London.

**I decided that there was not enough character development in this story so I kept the action minimal in this chapter. Please leave a review if you can.**


	7. Chapter 7

As Rana helps Cattleya put the newly made swords into the basket, Elina and two of her mercenaries are seen spying from nearby, seemingly confused.

"So this is the family who has been supplying the Rebel Army. It's a shame since they have a kid, but the Queen's orders are absolute."

Elina attempts to move further towards the house, but sees Rana heading outide and immediately catching sight of her.

"You are…" Rana drops the weapons he was holding out of shock.

"I had received Intel about you and your family's support towards the Rebel Forces. Anybody who goes against the Queen is immediately considered an enemy no matter how minor the crime is so kiss your family goodbye."

Before Elina could attack, Cattleya and Owen immediately rushed to Rana while holding weapons.

"I don't care who you are, but if you dare hurt my son; you won't be getting out of here in one piece." Cattleya threatened.

"Strong threats coming from a weak warrior. I was hoping this wouldn't have to result to bloodshed, but it looks like I have no choice, does it?" Elina jumps, intending to attack them with her claws.

"Clang!" Suddenly Elina's claws have clashed onto a familiar sword. The next thing she sees is Nathan standing right in front of Rana and his family, protecting them. She turns to see that the mercenaries were knocked out cold, forcing Elina to act on her own.

"Onii-chan!" Rana screams with joy upon seeing Nathan.

"Nathan? No Way!" Elina jumps back and continues to stare at Nathan in shock.

"It's been a while since I saw all of you. This place looks even more disastrous than the one I just left."

"The Queen has been making quick work to make sure that all forms of disloyalty and resistance has been eradicated. She apparently knew about the gathering of the Rebel Army prior to this." Owen explained.

"I see." Nathan continues to stare at Elina, showing obvious concern as Leina on the opposite side.

"I was hoping that the next time I see you, you would become a better person; but looking at the way you are now, it doesn't seem like you have. How disappointing."

"The Queen is also my sister. Do you honestly think I will go against my only family?"

"You don't know if she is your only one. What about Leina? I know she is still alive somewhere."

Elina immediately interrupts. "Don't bring my sister into this! She has been missing for quite a while. How do you know that she is here?"

"If you look properly, you will know that she is a lot closer to us than you think. I can't believe that this is what you have become. You are not the Elina I once knew"

Hearing this angers Elina more than ever as she attacks Nathan without hesitation, only to be blocked again by his sword.

"Don't you realize what you threw away? You actually considered me as a family last time we met and now we are enemies fighting against each other." Nathan continues his attempt to persuade Elina.

"It was a mistake for me to consider you as a family when I found out about your allegiance towards the Rebel Army."

"Why is it a mistake to you? It is almost like you don't even remember me."

"Why do I want to remember my time with the enemy? This is the reason why the Rebel Army will lose, because people like you are too soft."

"Kindness is not a weakness Elina. You didn't become like this until your sister became the Queen. I know that something is corrupting her so I joined the Rebel Army to stop this corruption. I want to believe that there is a reason behind her strict rule."

"Only a weakling would say that. I don't think there is anything wrong with my sister. I just think that you don't want to be controlled."

Unable to convince her, Nathan retaliates against Elina by quickly moving one of her claws out of the way and striking her in the face with his fist, knocking her down. Nathan immediately restrains her with his own body to prevent her from moving. He then takes Elina's stuffed cat out of his bag and show it to her in front of her face.

"You kept this cat like a treasure when I got it for you. You told me you would keep this to remember us by and yet you threw it away as if it was garbage."

Elina takes sight of the stuffed animal and begins to remember all the times she spent with it ever since she got it. Whenever her sister is gone, she would always sleep next to it for comfort, but Claudette pointed out that keeping this toy is a sign of weakness and ordered her to throw it. She reluctantly did so and begins losing her former self as a result.

"I remember now." Noticing Elina's lack of struggle, Nathan let's go of her as she grabs the cat from him.

Elina takes one last look at Nathan and retreats without saying a word while still holding her stuffed cat. Her mercenaries have awakened only to see Elina retreating and they decide to do the same as they find themselves outmatched.

"Maybe I should have told her where her sister really is." Nathan whispers to himself.

"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Rana moves towards Nathan out of concern.

"I am fine Rana, but I am worried more about you and your family. With Claudette's forces appearing all over the place, your home will no longer be safe."

"We knew as soon as Elina showed up in front of us, but we don't know where to go." Cattleya pointed out."

"There is a town a few miles from here being occupied by the Rebel Army. It is also a place where refugees are taken to in order to get away from the war. You should be safer there, but I can guide all of you if preferred."

"Please do. Maybe I can see onee-chan again if I go with you."

"Please have patients Rana. We still have to take whatever we can before we can go." Owen went inside the house and immediately begins packing.

"You better hurry up. I promised the Rebel Army that I wouldn't take too long and it would be dangerous if more mercenaries were to come here at this moment."

"I understand. We better pick up the pace." Cattleya picks up Rana and immediately head inside the house to pack as well.

"I'll stay here to keep watch in case more members of the Queen's Army shows up." Nathan stood outside the door as he continues to stare at the hills while waiting.

As soon as they were done packing, Nathan leads the way back to the lake before taking them to safety. As soon as they reach the lake, everyone becomes surprised that Nathan has brought some followers, though not as much as Airi since his followers are Rana and his family.

"Onee-chan!" Rana immediately rushes to Airi and locks her in an embrace.

"It's good to see you again Rana." Airi does the same.

"Any reason why many of them are in swimsuits." Cattleya asked.

"Most of us just got through a minor battle with the orcs. They find themselves exhausted so we decided to settle here for the time being." Nathan explained.

"I see, but aren't you worried about leaving yourselves exposed in the open area?"

"Like I said before, we cleared some of the orcs here to preoccupy the town. With the Queen's Army retreating due to their presence, the Rebel Army plans to make this a refuge for civilians. Not only are we trying to gather more recruits, we are also trying to retake as many cities as possible from the Queen, that way our army can expand."

Airi approaches Nathan. "Hey Nathan, why did you go to Rana's house without telling me? I could have gone with you."

"There wasn't time for me to alert you. I felt that something was going to attack them so I rushed as fast as I could and I was right. One of the mercenaries planning to attack them happens to be Elina."

Hearing her sister's name got Leina's attention while still being disguised as Maria. "What happened to her?"

"Claudette corrupted her into becoming a ruthless assassin. She no longer shows the humanity she had when we last saw each other as she attempted to kill me as well. She also went as far as to say that it was a mistake for her to consider me to be family, because of the fact that I am part of the Rebel Army."

"You didn't injure her badly, did you?"

"I never wanted to fight her, but I needed to strike her down in order to calm her. I took out the cat I bought for her back in my world and I believe I saw Elina regaining back a little of her humanity. It is too soon to tell as she retreated immediately after getting her cat back. After she and her mercenaries retreated, I told them to follow me to safety, knowing that staying there would only increase their risk of capture."

"So what is the next plan of action?" Maria asked.

"First, we will take them to safety. The next thing is to make a direct assault against the castle. Not only is the Queen's Army a problem, but if we don't step up, the orcs are bound to attack us as well before we can even fight back. We don't have enough to fight against two armies so it is either now or never."

Alleyne becomes concerned. "Wait a minute! You guys attempted to ambush the castle before, but it ended in failure. What makes you think that a direct assault will do any better?"

"Last time we didn't have the right weapons, because I was afraid to use them. It looks like we have no other choice, but to resort to that if we are going to fight the Queen directly." Annelotte told the group.

"Are you talking about the guns used during the war against the Swamp Witch?" Nathan asked.

"Correct. Let's head back to the fortress and unload them."

Annelotte then turns to Rana and his family. "I know this is sudden, but with the situation we are in now, we are going to need as much firepower as possible. Do you mind making more for us?"

"If it helps stop the Queen's mercenaries then that is fine. Take us to the fortress." Cattleya immediately accepted.

After more of the Rebel Army arrives to occupy the town, the group prepares to leave the lake, but before they can, Nathan sees a familiar face falling from the sky.

"LOOK OUT!" Nanael screams as she crashes down into the lake, splashing only Yuit and Vante.

"Why is it only us?" Yuit complained.

"Nanael, what are you doing here?" Airi asked.

"I came to assist you in the war against the Queen. The Chief Angel was pretty mad that the Queen made the Queen's Blade tournament illegal so she sent Laila to join the Rebel Army under my guidance, but instead, she joined the Queen's Army and I am still pissed off about that."

"You are actually joining the Rebel Army just to get a little revenge? Don't you think that is a little too much?" Nathan protested at Nanael's motivation.

"I am also here under Chief Angel's order so don't complain. Besides you are going to need all the help you can get."

"No way am I complaining about that since you are the one who called me and Airi to get here. Come on, let's all head to the fortress."

With Nanael added to the Rebel Army, the group heads back to the fortress to alert Risty of their plan to attack the castle.

"Haven't you learn your listen from the last time we did that? If it wasn't for Nowa, more of the army sent would have been massacred." Risty did not greet the idea with enthusiasm.

"Annelotte revealed to me earlier about the weapons used in the war against the Swamp Witch. We can use it to take down the castle wall while Airi and Nanael can keep watch at the skies."

"Even if such plan could come to fruition, we are still recovering from the last assault. We don't have enough soldiers to fill us in."

"Actually we do." Nanael comes into the room after overhearing Nathan and Risty's conversation.

"I have been in contact with Menace just a while ago. Since the Swamp Witch's castle is still up for grabs; I told her that if we win the war, she could have it. She was very interested in the fortress the Rebel Army has acquired, but since all of you still need it, I switched the offer to something of equal value."

"And she accepted being part of the Rebel Army?" Risty asked.

"Correct, she said she is bringing some of her people from the Amara Kingdom she rebuilt as long as I can keep the promise."

Nathan turns back to Risty. "We can't afford to waste anymore time. It is up to you to decide whether we can attack or not or else we will be facing two different armies."

"Very well, I will take you to the weapons." Risty leads Nathan into a secret storage compartment, but when Risty opens the floor gate; the room is actually a giant underground cave filled with M1 Garands, M2 Brownings, and 6 inch 26 cwt howitzers along with numerous ammunitions stored along with it.

"Why couldn't you have used those for battle?" Nathan asked.

"I have manage to keep most of them out of Claudette's hands with the help of the Rebel Army, but we didn't have enough people to use all of them and it would be problematic if our soldiers get captured and be forced to reveal everything, including this room. If the situation is as dire as you describe it, what choice do we have, but to resort to such destructive weapons?"

"You are right to keep it in hiding, because this won't be enough to break through such strong castle walls efficiently."

Risty becomes confused. "What? If these don't work, what will?"

"We don't have time to gather more recruits from other cities, but we have enough models and metals here to create a new type of weapon."

Nathan takes out a blueprint from his bag. "I had this made during our last stay here. This weapon acts like a more efficient cannon compared to the ones we have now."

The blueprint shows the design of the WWII-era BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun. Risty becomes impressed with the weapon's capabilities.

"I will admit, it looks like it will be effective when fighting against the Queen's Army, but the shells are about 82 pounds and building one would take at least 10 people and possibly weeks to have the finished product."

"That time will be enough. We already have more than 150 blacksmiths working for us in most of the preoccupied towns. Neither the orcs or the Queen's Army will be able to attack us due to the weather pattern that is approaching."

"You are talking about that storm that is coming right? I heard that the strong winds and lightning would last for a couple of months."

"Indeed. Can you gather the blacksmiths to built the first one? I will have Menace and Setra distribute the design once they have arrived."

"Very well." Risty and Nathan take one of the howitzers outside and have the Rebel Army gathered for an announcement.

"All right, listen up. As all of you know, a storm is coming over the area; preventing us, the Orcs, and the Queen's Army from attacking each other for about a couple of months. I took Nathan to the weapons compartment and found out that these weapons will not be enough to break through the Queen's castle. A new design has been made so we need all blacksmiths gathered to built it using the cannons we have now as models and those who would be willing to stay behind to fire such a weapon. Any volunteers for this?"

Several immediately raise their hands, wanting to try out the weapons for themselves while the blacksmiths remain reluctant due to the complexity in the design.

"If we are going to win this war, this has to be made so we better get to work now."

With everyone getting started, Nathan hands the design to Cattleya first. She seems intrigued by the weapon, but still remains reluctant like the rest.

"Are we really going to make this?"

"It should be easier compared to last time since we have a model for it. We don't need to make as many for it, but it is a vital weapon for tearing down walls."

"Whatever Onii-chan needs, we will make it." Rana remains enthusiastic.

Once Nathan is done putting up the design, Airi approaches him. "Nathan, maybe I can gather my lesser spirits to distribute the designs if you like."

"Thanks Airi, but we don't have any copies. We need Setra to pass them because only he can show the designs to others just by looking at it."

"They better hurry before the storm hits."

"We are here." Menace and Setra arrives to the fortress with her men and Risty immediately instructs them to go through some training.

"Menace, Setra, I know that you both have just arrived here, but there is a storm coming and we need this design to be sent to our preoccupied area. Can you do it for us?" Nathan asked.

"I will have Setra get right on it." Setra did as he was told and immediately head out of the fortress.

The storm finally came, forcing all armies to remain indoors until conditions are safe.

**Sorry it took me longer to make this, but school kept me busy. Maria happens to be Leina's alter ego in Queen's Blade Rebellion in case some don't know. I also receive comments on my other stories that told me to continue this one. I don't want to have any more comments unrelated to the story you are writing on. Any comments made have to relate to the story or I will be forced to delete them.**


	8. Chapter 8

With the Rebel Army preoccupied during the heavy storm, the Queen's Army isn't doing much better themselves as soldiers are trapped in their posts, knowing that the storm can easily swept them away with the strong winds as well as lightning strikes as it occurs frequently at random areas. Elina is currently taking shelter at a high-class inn in a town the Queen's Army preoccupied. The storm only bothered her very little as she continues to lay in bed and stare at the stuffed cat she got back from Nathan.

"Why have we gotten further apart? Onee-chan and Nathan are still alive. If both of them are in the Rebel Army, will I be able to bring myself to fight them?"

She then remembers the time she spend with Leina, which mostly depicts Elina's love for her often putting her older sister in embarrassing situations. Soon enough, she begins fantasizing about Leina as a force of habit. This causes her to get momentarily distracted as she started drooling.

"Hehe onee-chan."

When she realized that she was drooling all over her cat, she immediately tries to wipe it off and sniffs it after it was clean.

"Good, it still has his smell." This made Elina blushed when she realized what she just said.

"Why am I thinking about Nathan all of a sudden? All my life, onee-chan was the only person I loved and yet it changes ever since he came." Elina thought to herself.

"But this feeling is not bad." Elina falls asleep as she hugs the stuffed cat.

Back in the Rebel Army fortress, progress has been made building the new weapon, but the new design causes trouble for the blacksmiths as they are inexperienced with making weapons larger than swords and axes. Nonetheless, knowing that the fate of the Continent rests at their hands, barely any of them complained and continued to work despite the difficulties.

As Nathan talks to Risty about the war, Rana approaches him. "Onii-chan, the shells and the gun have been finished. We believe that it will shoot successfully, but we am not completely sure."

"I will come take a look. Bring the guns to the front of the entrance and open the door so we can tested, but no one steps outside as the storm is still very strong."

"Understood." Rana then retreats back to his post.

"You really think this gun might help?" Risty asked with concern.

"The Queen's Army knows the area better than the most of us so we may need to destroy the castle walls if they happen to use that to their advantage during the battle."

"We still have no idea whether the guns will work or not."

"Only one way to find out." Nathan leaves and head towards the front entrance to move the finished gun.

After the entrance was opened, the artillery gun was placed right in front of the entrance aiming at the outside. After the first shell was loaded in, Nathan asked the other blacksmiths to stand back as he is unsure whether the weapon works.

"FIRE!" Nathan yelled as he fired the gun.

To the surprise from everyone who witnessed it, the test was successful as the shell exploded upon impact, showing more power than the howitzer used in the first war of the Continent. Realizing the weapon's potential, many blacksmiths asked Rana and his family how the gun was built, which they replied by telling them to imagine how the howitzer was built rather than just looking at the model and looking at the different pieces.

"It seems like we have new hope just by building weapons." Nathan commented.

"That's because they finally felt like they could win this war." Airi said while standing next to Nathan.

"You were next to me all along Airi?"

"You were often busy preparing for the war. It's kind of sad that we are not as close here as we are back in London."

"You have no idea how much I still miss spending time with you in London. I still remember when you first came and how my father approved of us so fast."

Airi laughs remembering that. "How can I forget my first step into your world? I felt more peace there than at the swamp and to be able to finally taste food that you people eat, I actually didn't think it would be as good as absorbing life energy until I tried."

"There are a lot of things I still want you to try and places to see, especially outside of London."

"I am sure that we can make it work once we have some time off."

Nathan and Airi then turn to each other and kissed. Rana had his eyes covered while Cattleya and Owen watched happily at the couple.

"It has been a while since we have done this."

"We haven't done this since we got back to the Continent. That is what I also missed." Nathan kisses Airi again before turning his attention to the blacksmiths while Airi summons more of her spirits as guards.

Alleyne, who witnessed the kiss, couldn't help, but smile at the two for how far they have progressed in their relationship.

"I wonder if this is what love is. To see the two this happy being together, it would be nice if I can experience what love is like." Alleyne said to herself.

"Instructor?" Nowa called out surprising Alleyne.

"Nowa? You surprised me. What is it?"

"You were speaking to yourself earlier. Are you okay?"

Alleyne blushed when she realized what she did. "It's nothing important. You should get back to training the soldiers."

"It's break time. You are acting a lot different than usual Instructor. Did something happen?"

Before Alleyne can respond, Nowa took a look at where Alleyne is looking and saw Nathan and Airi, showing a sinister smile upon figuring out.

"It seems like that the feeling of love has recently struck your heart watching those two, didn't it?"

"What? That's not it?" Alleyne begins defending herself.

"It doesn't look like you are in love with Nathan though. It seems more like you just want to experience love yourself, right?"

"I think I taught you too well. 100 points for being sharp."

"Don't change the subject. I think it's wonderful to feel such emotions."

"You really think so Nowa?"

"Of course. Did you know that some of the soldiers refer to you as uptight, strict, and a battle maniac?"

A vein mark appears on Alleyne's head. "What else did they say about me?"

"Their view of you has gotten better ever since Nathan and Legolas came here. They thought that maybe you are kind to those you care about or that you do care, but you can't just express it. What do you think about that, Instructor?"

"To know who I am just because of these two angers me a little, but I can see that they mean no harm. Maybe it is time for me to try something new as well."

"Maybe you can work on your relationship with Legolas." Nowa grinned.

Airi blushed again. "What does Legolas have anything to do with it?"

"He was the only elf I know who came by your side despite everything that has happened. I figured that after everything he is doing for you, you would at least care for him the same way as me."

"That much I can say, but I never thought of him any further than that. What do you think about this exactly?"

"I think you need to start somewhere and there is no better time than now. People only see you by what you show, not what is inside of you, Many of them seem to think that you are incapable of doing anything else other than fighting and teaching."

Alleyne becomes shocked and somewhat disappointed upon hearing what people thought of her as.

"Is this what I am really seen as in the public?"

"They aren't completely wrong though. I feel that you have been sticking to your way for too long. Maybe it's time for you to change, especially since our friends are actually putting an effort for you to become more like them. It would help if you also take effort to do so."

"You can't change who someone is if it is a part of you."

"We all know that, but that doesn't mean that everything has to remain the same. I know that you are starting to understand that as well. I will give you some time to think about."

After Nowa left, Alleyne is left confused over her own feelings, not knowing what she thinks about others.

"Alleyne? Is something wrong?" Legolas approaches her.

"Nowa told me that I need to be more open with my feelings as everyone only sees me by what I show on the outside, but I don't really know how. I have been stuck to the same way for so long, I guess I never made room for me to be like others."

"Try not to worry about that too much. Things like that take time to understand."

Alleyne turns to Legolas. "How do you know when you feel that you have changed?"

"One example is when you told me about how you came to care for Nowa when she came to you. Take a look at Airi. Back then; she would follow the Swamp Witch's order to no end before meeting Nathan. Her interaction with him slowly changes her into becoming your ally. This is a much greater example of how someone could change. That is why I told you to give yourself some time so you could understand it yourself."

"How do you know of Airi's back story?"

"Nathan told me about the previous war when we were taking a break after dealing with the orcs in the last town. Anything can happen and that is something you will have to embrace at times."

Alleyne smiles after understanding Legolas' advice. "Your advice sounds simple, but it's all right. I feel much better thanks to you."

"Just don't push yourself too hard. It will come eventually. I will be looking forward to fighting with you."

"If we do fight together, please promise me you will stay alive." Alleyne blushes slightly.

"Only if you can promise the same." Legolas then leaves Alleyne alone.

After another successful series of test using the BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun, only about 5 have been made after a month, a bit behind schedule.

"It's a bit too little don't you think?" Annelotte asked Nathan.

"It can't be helped. The size of the machine along with the shells accumulates so much time making before getting the gun to work. I don't think we need too many though as we are mainly using them to destroy the castle walls, but we do need more than what we got now."

"How long do you think the storm will continue to last?"

Nathan takes a look outside. "The storm is still as strong as ever so I would probably say another month and a half, but weather can change so my prediction may not be accurate."

"Then we have no time to waste. Have all the blacksmiths work on more of those guns."

"Very well, but all I can do is having them work at their own pace. Many of them are still resting, but they promise to work the next day."

"That will be good enough, As long as we can make enough machines by the time the battle begins, we will at least have a chance to defeat the Queen's Army."

"Remember that we still have to deal with the orcs as well so we have to put our focus on the soldiers as well."

"I understand. Nowa is currently training some of our soldiers so I will help. What about you?"

"I am still working on battle strategies with Risty, Alleyne, and Airi. Soon enough, you have to come and take part since you are the leader of the Rebel Army."

"I will come after I help Nowa. Let's all do our best."

"We already are." Nathan responded as Annelotte leaves.

"I better get some training done as well." Nathan said to himself.

"If you are going to train, you might as well go outside." Nanael said.

"Outside in this storm?"

"Where else? Consider this as a new challenge to overcome. Training the same way won't make you better."

"You make a point. Very well, I will start off by dodging those lightning strikes to enhance my reflexes." Nathan went outside as Nanael watched smiling, but later becomes concerned.

"Something is definitely wrong here. A storm like this doesn't come this early even if the conditions meet. It is as if something is affecting the normal climate of this area." Nanael thought to herself as she watches Nathan easily dodging the lightning strikes.

"I am pretty sure that Nathan will figure it out soon enough." Nanael thought to herself smiling.

Nathan also shares Nanael's concern about the storm as he begins collecting his thoughts. "This definitely doesn't seem natural. Lightning doesn't strike the same area twice in the same storm, yet it appears to be coordinated on the strikes compared to a normal storm. Claudia isn't powerful enough to generate such a storm, which means someone else is behind it."

Nathan dodges another lightning strike targeting him. "Who could it be?"

Airi helps Owen lift the other end of the shell after placing the artillery gun away from the entrance.

"These things weigh like 100 pounds. How many more are we suppose to make?" Owen complained.

"As many as we can. We are not expected to make that much since the guns are important too, but we need enough to destroy the castle walls." Airi explained.

"We already made enough for twelve rounds as well as others making them as well. How much is considered enough?" Cattleya asked.

"We just don't want the plan to backfire. You all still remember why we are fighting right? That is the same reason why we are making these weapons."

"I suppose, but what about swords and shields? Aren't they just as important as guns?"

"Nathan knows they are important. Nobody is stopping you from making them, but we also need these guns as well."

"Swords are practically useless unless you are close enough to the enemy and Claudette actually has a weapon's storage in her castle that contains a moderate amount of guns used during the last war, We have to take them out first before we resort to close quarter fighting."

"Seems like my friend became a lot smarter since she started to live with Nathan." Nanael approaches Airi.

"You haven't been doing anything since you came to the fortress. At least help make these shells lighter when we carry them." Airi begins complaining herself.

Nanael sighs. "I only join the Rebel Army so I can teach Laila a lesson for disobeying me when I told her only to get rid of the chaos of the human world."

"I am guessing she took it the wrong way." Airi sighs out of disappointment.

"You have no idea and now she believes that the Rebel Army is the cause of the chaos. When I saw Nathan joining the Rebel Army, I knew she was on the wrong side since the Chief Angel chose him to save the Continent in the last war."

"Are you going to keep finding excuses or are you going to help lifting those heavy shells?" Airi asked.

"I won't lift them myself, but let me make them lighter for you." Nanael uses telekinesis to lighten the weight of the shell and soon, Airi, Rana and his family begins moving the shells at a faster pace. As soon as all of the shells were moved, Nanael was left exhausted due to the weight of the shell.

"Jeez, why do these weapons need such heavy ammo? I could barely lift them up myself using telekinesis." Nanael complains.

Nathan heads back inside to alert new updates to Annelotte. "The storm is beginning to subside. Once it reaches save levels, the Queen's Army will continue to patrol the castle, making an ambush attempt impossible without them seeing the new guns."

"How much time do we have left?"

"The storm is fading away slowly. It will probably take about several days to a week before the skies become clear."

"Then it is now or never. I will make an announcement that the attack will commence in a few days."

With the battle nearing, Nathan immediately heads to Risty to inform her of the storm.

Meanwhile, in the forest where the elven genocide took place, Aragorn and his army, including Gimli and hundreds of elves, arrives to see many of the bodies of Orcs and elves in the same place. The army shows disgust as some of the bodies were shown to be woman and children.

"A battle didn't just take place here. There was a massacre here before that." Aragorn said out of disgust.

"When I see those orcs, I am going to make sure they wish they are dead after seeing this." Gimli also shows the same disgust as he looks at the dead bodies.

"This isn't going to be as easy as you might think Gimli. When the storm hit, I noticed that the clouds are slightly darker than normal storm clouds, something that hasn't been seen since the creation of the rings and the war that followed along."

Gimli turns to Aragorn confused. "What are you saying Aragorn?"

"I am saying that a new ring has been made and the orcs may have already found a suitable host. Legolas and his allies might be in trouble. We got to move fast and find them or the ring."

Knowing the danger, Aragorn and his army decide to follow the trail of bodies hoping to find and destroy the new ring.

**I am sorry this took a long time as school kept me busy. It will take me a while before I release another chapter in my fanfic account, but I don't want anybody to get the idea that I am retiring from fanfiction, because I am not.**


	9. Chapter 9

With their new weapon finished, the Rebel Army slowly makes their way to Claudette's castle, not wanting to attract her army's attention. As the army moves through the forest, Alleyne immediately recognizes the area where her tribe was massacred by the orcs. Having a hard time getting over the tragedy, she stopped in her trucks and begins wandering around. Legolas takes notice of Alleyne's behavior and stops her before she separates herself from the rest.

"Being in this area has brought back the memories of your tragedies didn't it?" Legolas asked.

"I remember the time when I thought that my tribe was the strongest in the forest, being able to defend itself from any invaders only to find themselves massacred by these creatures. I thought I had gotten over it, but it is not easy forgetting something as horrifying as this."

"You are afraid aren't you? Are you afraid that we might lose this war?"

"I am afraid, but it is not just losing. What I am really afraid of is that the Rebel Army might meet the same fate as my tribe. I barely moved on from my tribe's massacre and I don't what I will do if the same thing happens to all of you."

Unable to handle such thoughts, Alleyne turns her back on Legolas as she starts shedding tears. Sympathizing Alleyne's situation, Legolas moves closer to her to comfort her.

"What? Legolas? What are you doing?" Legolas embraces Alleyne from behind in an attempt to stop her from crying.

"The pain you must be going through right now is something I want to take away. I know you still mourn your lost loved ones, but we are still here. Don't even think for a second that we would meet the same fate, because I know we won't. We have fought hard together and we will succeed together."

"But how do we know we will succeed?" Alleyne finally calms down in Legolas' arms.

"You told me that you want everyone to be stronger, correct? We all tried hard to be. Maybe it is time for you to grow stronger as well. We can't guarantee survival for all, but their deaths will not be in vain as long as we can continue. Let's show them that we can win this."

"It appears that everyone is stronger than me right now. I wonder where they keep finding such strength."

"It's because they have each other they can count on when one is in trouble. You often do things on your own during your time here, but let me tell you again that you are no longer alone. We all trust each other, but do you trust us?"

Alleyne puts her hand on Legolas' and smiles. "I do. You have all done so much for me and now it is my turn to do the same. Let's go avenge those who have fallen under Claudette."

"That's the spirit. We better go or we are going to be left behind."

"Understood." Alleyne immediately heads to the front as Legolas follows.

Liliana, who manages to escape from the dungeon the Rebel Army placed her in, continues to observe the army heading to the castle as a spectator as she has no interest in getting involved in the conflict and the fact that the Rebel Army destroyed her ship and crew.

"What an interesting battle this is going to be. I wonder how are they going to deal with the orcs once they are done with Claudette. I guess I will have to wait and see." Liliana said as she continues to follow the Rebel Army.

As Annelotte continues forward, she becomes concerned about something. "Nathan, even if we break down the castle walls, how are we going to get into the castle."

"We will use a more aggressive ambush method in order to force the army to open the gate. We have hundreds of firebombs created by the blacksmiths to launch using the catapults that we acquired as the main forces remain in hiding."

"Then what?"

"You will see." Nathan continues marching forward as he sees Annelotte becoming annoyed.

Risty currently leads her own brigade consisting of 4,000 soldiers and moves to a different path to create a more effective ambush. Mirim, who is currently with Risty, is the only one slightly confused with this strategy.

"Um how exactly does moving away from the main forces help them win the battle?"

"We are not leaving them, but for an ambush to work, we have to split up to make sure the Queen's Army have nowhere to run to, surrounding them in the castle as the enemy only expects the main forces to attack the front. I don't plan on making the same mistake like our last attempt to take the castle. I am still mourning those who didn't make it out of there alive."

"I see. I still believe that we can win though. It is time for peace to be brought back to the Continent." Mirim attempts to remain motivated for the battle.

Risty smiles at Mirim's response. "Yeah, we will show them."

Before they can go any further, Menace stops them. "You still remember the promise for if I helped the Rebel Army win this war, right?"

"You are not getting our fortress, but if we do win, the Swamp Witch's fortress is up for grabs as the Queen's Army has control over it since the last war. How is that for your prize?" Risty asked.

"Good enough, but just barely." Menace reluctantly accepts this condition and continues to fly alongside the brigade.

Once the main forces reaches the castle, Nanael and Airi went up at the castle wall to take sight of the guards.

"What kind of opposition is waiting for us?" Nathan asked the two.

"There are about 10 to 20 soldiers guarding the top of the castle walls, but they don't seem to be aware of our presence. There seems to be ground troops as well, but are just as unaware since they are scattered among the castle." Airi answered.

"Can one of you check to see how far Risty has come? We need her to be ready if we are going to attack." Annelotte said.

"I will go and check." Nanael immediately flies off as the main forces load the catapults with firebombs.

Once Nanael sees that Risty and her soldiers are in position, she immediately heads back to the main forces and signals them to attack through a burst of light. Annelotte sees the light signal and orders the catapults to launch. Soon, the firebombs begin flying away into the castle, easily killing off several of the guards on top off the castle wall and soon begins disorienting the ground forces as well.

"The attack is effective, but some soldiers are heading back with crossbows." Airi warned.

"All right. Fire the guns!" Nathan ordered.

With the guns hidden in the forest, they started firing the heavy shells on to the castle wall, catching enemy soldiers off-guard as the castle begins to break down.

"Lower the bridge! We got to clean them out! One of the guards yelled.

One of the soldiers did as he was told, not knowing that this was part of the Rebel Army's strategy to get into the castle. By the time the gate was lowered, part of the castle wall has collapsed. As soon as the bridge was lowered, the Queen's Army begins making their move, as they are now aware of the Rebel Army's presence.

"The other gunners are in position. Give the order." Nathan told Annelotte.

"Fire!" Annelotte ordered.

Gunshots were soon heard as gunners continue to fire using their M1 Garands obtained from the last war. Once the enemy forces have been subdued in front of the gate, the main forces begin charging into the castle and successfully push their way inside. A messenger desperately rushes to Claudette and tells her of the attack, in which Claudette responds by ordering her army to take out the guns from the weapon's storage as she makes her way outside.

When Laila comes back from her hot spring treatment, she found herself appalled by the explosions she witnessed in Claudette's castle. She changes her size in an attempt to stop the Rebel Army, but was stopped by Nanael before she can even make a move.

"Nanael?" Again, Laila becomes surprised.

"Didn't think I would catch you right? I have yet to make sure you are properly punished for disobeying me." Nanael draws the Celestial Saber as she prepares to fight Laila.

Meanwhile, Risty continues to observe the explosions from behind the castle, much to the dismay of her more impatient soldiers.

"When exactly do we get to fight?" Tarnyang complained.

"We are ordered to wait here until the main forces signal trouble or if the Queen's Army attempts to escape from the back. Either Nanael or Airi will signal us to come and help."

Inside the castle, Ymir desperately tries to finish reconstructing a replica of the Hyper Vibration Armor as Mirim stole the real one during their last confrontation with each other.

"So the Rebel Army thinks they can win this battle, huh? Just wait until I finish this and see where this battle will go." Ymir spoke to herself.

As the battle continues, Legolas witnessed a small group of enemy soldiers, carrying guns and begins shooting down the Rebel Army. Using the debris of the collapsed wall as cover, Legolas begins firing a few arrows at the gunners, killing two of them. Nathan takes notice of this as well and spots one of them firing an M2 Browning machine gun. He takes out a grenade and tosses it at the gunner's direction. The machine gunner curiously picks it up, but explodes within seconds, killing him and several other gunners surrounding him and causes the gun to fall from the top, knocking one of the enemy soldiers unconscious.

"Well that was convenient." Nathan said as he continues fighting.

Elina heads back to the castle several months of hiding from the severe storm, but when she sees Claudette's castle being attacked, she ran without hesitation. Being severely outnumbered by the gunners of the Rebel Army in the forest. She swiftly attacks some of them, while evading the rest to get inside the gate.

"I won't let you kill my sister!" Elina yells as she begins attacking the main forces inside the castle.

Realizing the trouble, Maria stops Elina's rampage and begins fighting her herself.

"I don't want to fight you so step down." Maria ordered.

"You are already an enemy to me when I see you fighting against my sister's army."

Elina begins attacking Maria. "I don't care who you are or what you say. I will make sure that the Rebel Army falls!"

Maria remains silent as she continues to fight Elina. With the Queen's Army beginning to fight back, Annelotte decides to call for Risty's brigade. Menace takes notice and alerts them.

"Finally." Risty's army charges into the castle and finishes off some of the retreating soldiers, trapping them between her and the main forces.

As Mirim charges in, she spots Ymir beating some of the soldiers of the Rebel Army and begins chasing after her. Ymir takes notice of Mirim and begins running to the courtyard of the castle to prevent the Rebel Army from following both of them. As soon as they reach the courtyard, Ymir turns around and confronts Mirim.

" I see that you have brought your armor with you. Once I beat you, I will make sure to strip you off of it so I can have it for myself." Ymir starts laughing maniacally.

"I am not going to let this happen. You tried to attack my hometown so it is my turn to hurt you." Mirim takes out her Infinite Slasher blade and begins fighting Ymir one on one.

Some soldiers of the Rebel Army successfully infiltrated the castle, but those who ran into Claudette were quickly disarmed and incapacitated thanks to her use of lightning. As the main forces continue to push into the castle, Annelotte spots Aldra waiting at one of the castle towers and begins chasing after her.

"Annelotte, what are you doing?" Nathan yelled.

"I have unfinished business with someone. You lead the army until I get back."

"Sometimes I don't feel that she is worthy to be a leader." Nathan complained.

When Annelotte finally catches up to Aldra in an isolated area, she sees her being accompanied by Belphe and Dogor. As she draws her sword, Aldra begins taunting her.

"Last time I let you go because I thought you might have been my sister. I sensed the same demonic energy within you and had hoped that we didn't have to come to this again, but looks like I have no choice."

"We always have a choice, but since you insist on staying with the Queen's Army. You honestly think no action will be taken against you for this?"

"I stayed with the Queen, because me and my husband's life is at stake. I can't let the army fall just so your people's lives can improve." Aldra takes out her gondolier's paddle as she prepares to fight.

"You can't see that it is the Queen that is deceiving you?" Annelotte attempts to convince Aldra.

"I don't care who I said with as long as I can be with my husband. Belphe, Dogor, attack her."

Her summons did as she was told as Belphe unleashes his flame towards Annelotte, which she easily dodges.

"Attacking head on? That was the same mistake you made in our last battle." Annelotte commented.

However, before Annelotte can fight back, Dogor suddenly appears behind her and spews acidic liquid. Although surprised, Annelotte manages to react quickly enough and ducks away from the liquid.

"I will admit that this caught me by surprise. Maybe you have learned something new since our last fight."

"Don't think that things will remain the same after seeing what you were capable of last time. There is no way that you will be able to defeat the three of us twice!" Dogor yelled.

"Not in the same way, but don't think that you can defeat me easily just because you know what I am capable of." Annelotte remains confident, knowing Belphe and Dogor's abilities as well.

"It seems like she has better control of her demonic powers. It is best not to underestimate her." Aldra warned both demons.

"Seems to be a bluff. If she did, she would have unleashed it by now." Belphe said, unknowing of Annelotte's control.

Belphe and Dogor charges at Annelotte, but soon sees a demonic glow on her sword. A ssoon as the two demons come close enough, Annelotte easily knocks them back to Aldra, who becomes worried.

Claudette met up with a couple of mercenaries, who manages to capture Luna Luna during the castle raid.

"What brings you here to my castle?" Claudette asked her prisoner.

"If you think I am going to let you kill my brother, you are dead wrong." Luna Luna struggles to break free, but is held tightly.

"Brother? Is that what you call Annelotte now? I see you show no fear in the face of death. I don't plan on killing you, as it will only make a mess of my castle. Throw her in with the rest of the prisoners!" Claudette ordered her mercenaries.

Luna Luna was then thrown in a moat filled with jelly-like material that restrains the prisoners from putting any resistance. It is also the same place where most of her allies were taken the last time they fought Claudette. Luna Luna looks around and finds Sainyang and Tarnyang stuck in the jelly as well.

"What a coincidence that the same thing would happen to us not once, but twice!" Luna Luna complains.

"I guess we didn't really learn too much from our last fight." Tarnyang commented.

"I just hope that the Rebel Army will come and save us soon or we will be dead once this war is over." Sainyang said.

As the enemy forces continue firing their guns, Yuit and Vante manages to reach one of the castle towers and begins dispatching enemy gunners.

"Sorry, but Vante is made out of stronger metal than what your bullets are made of." Yuit gloats as Vante begins shooting her own guns at the enemy soldiers.

Maria continues her fight with Elina and appears to have an advantage over her as Elina soon becomes overwhelmed by Maria's stronger strikes.

"Look, I really don't want to fight you. If I see you get hurt, it will hurt me just as much." Maria tries to persuade Elina to stop, but to no avail.

"I am tired of talking to the enemy. Like I said, anyone who goes against the Queen is an enemy to me."

Realizing that Elina won't listen, Maria reverses Elina's claw strikes and begins making strikes of her own, aiming to break Elina's armor, which she succeeded. Just as Maria fully gains advantage, she soon starts feeling drowsy.

"Oh no, I forgot to take Nathan's medicine. It will be bad if I fall asleep in this place." Maria pushes herself to remain awake.

Elina sees that Maria is dropping her guard and begins attacking. After a series of successful strikes, Maria becomes unconscious. Before she can kill Maria, Nathan intervenes and blocks her killing strike.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to kill your own sister?" Nathan yelled.

Seeing Nathan caught Elina by surprise as she takes a step back from him. "Nathan? I see you are fighting on behalf of the Rebel Army."

"It only takes one look for you to see why I chose to fight for them, yet you refused to open your eyes."

"You said this person was my sister when you stopped me from killing her. Don't tell me she is…"

Nathan unmasks Maria, showing Leina's face right in front of Elina. Horrified to realize that her sister has joined the Rebel Army as well, Elina comes down to her knees unsure what to do next.


	10. Chapter 10

After Nathan revealed Leina in front of Elina, she went into complete shock that her sister, whom she adored so much, has defected from her family to join the Rebel Army. Unable to continue fighting in her presence, Elina goes down to her knees unsure of what to do.

"Why would onee-chan fight against her own family? Everything we did was for the best for her."

"It is more like it's best for the family instead of others and Leina happens to be with the others. If Leina is on our side, it shows that there is something wrong with your sister's rule."

"Shut up!" Elina attacks Nathan again for criticizing her family, but was easily disarmed.

"If you don't believe me, why don't you tell me why she is with the Rebel Army?"

Elina finds herself unable to answer the question and remains silent for a brief period. Impatient, because of the battle, Nathan decides to further explain Leina's deception.

"Leina didn't believe the one ruling the Continent was the Claudette she once knew. She believed that the Claudette who helped save Queen's Blade and accepted her title honorable is her sister, but refuses to acknowledge the one who abolished the traditional tournament as well as being merciless to her opponents. She and I both know there is something wrong with her, as she would never be like this without influence. Leina can't get through Claudette by herself, which is why she joined the Rebel Army to increase her chances of getting to her. If you really love your sister, you would help her. Are you going to help her cause and fix your family?"

Elina, still in shock, is still unable to answer. Not wanting to put down Elina any further, Nathan leaves her, but not before turning back one last time.

"Your family is at stake. Remember that." Nathan leaves to provide support for the Rebel Army as Elina sits down confused.

Things are not progressing so far between Annelotte and Aldra as the two continue fighting each other with Dogor and Belphe fighting on Aldra's behalf. Despite the number advantage, Annelotte continues holding her own against Aldra due to her new level of control of her demonic powers, which surprised Aldra early on.

"You may have new control over your powers, but it still doesn't mean you have fully mastered it yet." Belphe shoots flames towards Annelotte, but she blocks the flames using her demonic energy.

Wanting to teach Aldra an example of her powers, she mainly focuses on her two helpers to make sure that they don't interfere. Defenseless against Annelotte's strike, the two demons crashed through a layer of the castle walls, incapacitating them from the fight, leaving Aldra to fight on her own. Unable to retaliate against Annelotte, Aldra shows fear at what her next move will be as all she is fighting with is her gondolier's paddle. Annelotte then attacks Aldra and broke her paddle in half, leaving her virtually defenseless. Aldra was then knocked down and soon begins staring at Annelotte's eyes, feeling that there is something familiar about them.

"Where have I seen those eyes before?" Aldra wonders as Annelotte stares at her confused.

She then had a flashback, remembering that she had a baby sister when she was young, whom she was separated from and had been looking for since then. This led her to the Queen's Blade tournament where she became Queen to live a worriless life. The two eyes she was staring at were the same eyes as her sister and finally realize that Annelotte is who she was looking for all along.

"Sister. It's really you." Annelotte becomes silent after hearing Aldra.

"Sister? You said that before, but I didn't believe it. I was born an only child."

"You are wrong. You and I have been separated as a newborn. I recognize you, because not only do you have the same demonic energy, but you also have the same eyes. I have been looking for you since we separated and to finally found you after all these years, I have never been more happy since I married."

Seeing that she was telling the truth, Annelotte withdrew her sword. "I am also happy to know that I have a sister, but also sad at the same time. We are fighting on different sides, what are we going to do about this?"

"I don't know, but even if you are my sister, there is no way I am trading my life with my husband to be with you."

"That is practically the reason why you joined the Queen's Army right? You feared that the Rebel Army would take your husband away and was convinced that the Queen's Army would protect him."

"So you do know me. Another reason why I joined the Queen's Army was because I saw you acting rude towards a girl from my hometown. How could you do that?"

"I did no such thing. I am quite attached to kids myself so it will be impossible for me to do such a thing."

"That is not what I saw. I swear that it was you who committed the act as I still remember clearly."

"There is only one explanation for this. Isn't it possible that there could be a shape shifter in the army? I was told that Mirim fought her before she escaped."

Aldra then remembers that person. "From what you are saying, it sounds like Melona was the one being rude to that girl."

"Even now, I don't even know where you hometown is so I couldn't have done it. Don't you think that it is also a bit strange?"

"It makes sense since I didn't feel the same presence from her. I really have joined the wrong side."

"Then let's make it right again as sisters." Annelotte offers her hand to Aldra, which she happily accepts, although Belphe and Dogor aren't so happy about it.

"There is no way I am going to let you two ruin our plans to eat the summoner." Belphe said after he woke up.

Aldra becomes surprised. "Eating the summoner? You mean me?"

"We have been secretly plotting to eat you since the moment we became your helpers, but seeing that you are taking a different direction, we have no choice, but to rush our plans. Let's see how you taste." Dogor said as both begin charging.

Seeing Aldra defenseless, Annelotte awakens her demonic powers and kills Belphe and Dogor with one strike of her sword, saving her sister.

"Trust no full-blooded demons Aldra. They will only turn against you eventually." Annelotte warned, which Aldra agrees.

With Aldra on her side, the two sisters head back into the castle to support the Rebel Army.

Meanwhile, Mirim and Ymir continue their own battle with neither gaining the upper hand.

Ymir becomes impatient with her desire for Mirim to activate her armor. "Why aren't you activating your armor? It is the only way for you to beat me."

"I was told to believe in my own strength. This armor gave me powers, but I can't function as effectively if it starts vibrating. I won't let you win."

"Then I will activate my own armor and see how you deal with it." Ymir's armor soon starts vibrating, but because of the intensity, she is not able to fight back as well as she hoped.

Seeing Ymir incapacitated by her own armor, Mirim charges and attacks her, gaining the upper hand as Ymir desperately tries to defend herself. After knocking down Ymir, Mirim saw that she wasn't able to get back up.

"Can't take this anymore. I've got to leave the armor." Ymir suddenly shape shifts away and reveals to Mirim for a second time that Ymir was actually Melona, who tied up the real Ymir as she wanted the prototype armor to herself, but was unable to handle it.

"It looks like I have to retreat for now." Melona tries to escape, but not before being confronted by Airi and Nanael.

"Don't think that you will be able to escape the same way twice." Nanael said as she tosses away the unconscious Laila.

"Airi, you are still my friend right? Could you please let me get out of here?" Melona begs to Airi.

"Don't worry, they will only punish you, rather than kill you, for all the wrong that you have done. I am done siding with the wrong people." Airi tells Melona off, shocking her.

"No way." Melona said, as she becomes frozen from Nanael's Holy Milk and was brought up to Heaven once again to report her capture.

With technological advantage of the Rebel Army, they soon began putting the Queen's Army on the defensive, pushing them back into the castle as they make their way through.

Before the Rebel Army could make their way through, Claudette pushes them back as reinforcements came behind her, but was not enough to get them out of the castle as fighting intensifies. Before Claudette can do some real damage to the Rebel Army, the now awakened Leina and Nathan confronted her.

"I see that you have returned Leina. It's hard to believe that you would turn against your family for these fools who are trying to destroy it."

"They are not trying to destroy the family. That job has been accomplished by you, because of your tyrannical rule."

"It is thanks to me that the Vance family lives at the highest position of the Continent. In order to maintain it, I had to abolish the Queen's Blade tournament or the same thing will happen again."

"You just wasted almost the entire tradition of the continent in hopes just to keep your family name alive? Many people had that dream and all you did was demolish it. What happen to your honor and nobility?" Nathan asked Claudette.

"You should know that I would never choose anything else over my family, but Leina chose you guys. It looks like I have no choice." Claudette uses her lighting to attack the duo, but Nathan blocks the attack with his sword as Leina attempts to strike her, but was blocked.

As the two were battling Claudette, they sensed an evil presence around her, confirming that something is indeed influencing her from her usual self. Legolas takes notice and immediately recognizes the presence as he stares at her ring finger.

"Nathan! Leina! Claudette is wearing the One Ring! If someone puts on that ring, they will give in to the worst side of themselves unless it can be removed!"

"You heard the man. We have to remove the ring now!" Nathan charges again, but Claudette evades his attempt as well as Leina's.

"Like I will ever let you remove something so powerful." Claudette said as the ring continues to unleash her dark side.

Legolas attempted to get the ring himself from Claudette, but she unleashes her lightning to create debris, separating the three from Legolas as well as the rest of the Rebel Army. Alleyne questions Legolas about the ring.

"I thought the One Ring was destroyed in your world. How did it end up in the Queen's possession?"

"The Orcs must have made it in an attempt to revive Sauron, but Claudette must have gotten after it was finished. This would explain why the orcs were raiding the towns here. They want the ring that she has. We have to get it or else she might even have the power to control the orcs." Legolas shot down two more enemy soldiers.

"If it is the ring you want, leave it to me."

Alleyne begins jumping on top of the debris and manages to reach Leina and Nathan and sets her eyes on Claudette. Alleyne throws her spear towards Claudette, but was easily knocked off by her blade. She then attempt to restrain her from behind, but one of her soldiers attempted to shoot an arrow to Alleyne, ehich she dodged, but gave Claudette enough time to strike Alleyne away, sending her crashing down to the floor.

"Instructor!" Nowa screamed as she tries to reach her, but was too preoccupied by enemy forces.

Realizing the desperation of the Rebel Army to get the ring, Claudette loses consciousness and allows the ring to consume her completely. When her eyes open, she begins speaking in a menacing male voice and immediately recognizes Legolas.

"You and Aragorn always try to have me killed, but I now I am alive consuming the host I am controlling right now. Once her body is consumed completely, my original body will be restored again and thus reborn once more."

"Sauron…" Legolas said.

Leina turns to Legolas. "Legolas, do you know what is happening to Claudette?"

"Sauron has taken over her body completely and the ring is consuming her! Once that happens, Sauron will revive completely! The ring must be removed now!"

"I don't think so." Sauron raises his sword and a sound was heard.

"That doesn't sound good." Nathan said the obvious.

The Rebel Army outside of the castle begins feeling vibration on the ground, signaling that a large army is approaching. Realizing that the orcs are coming from the forest, Legolas alerts everyone.

"A large orc army is coming! Nathan, have your gunners turn their weapons around before they reach the castle!"

"Understood. Gunners, turn your weapons the other way! It is only a matter of time before the orcs show up!"

The gunners did as they are told an attempted to turn the medium guns around. As the orcs came into sight, the gunners desperately attempted to shoot through the army and despite taking out many, they were not able to secure their position as the orcs begin scattering them.

"It looks like we were too late. We have to continue fighting or we'll be trapped in this castle." Alleyne said.

"We have to scatter now!" Nathan disbands his group and has the first platoon to defend the castle from the orcs despite being heavily outnumbered.

The Queen's Army, on the other hand, was relieved to have back up and decided to put the Rebel Army on the defensive. With no way out, all of the Rebel Army decides to fight to the death, killing as many as they can before they themselves are wiped out.

"What is the army strength of the orcs?" Nathan asked Legolas.

"About 10,000, making the enemy forces three times the size of our own. It looks like Sauron is using his entire force." Legolas responded as he shoots down another orc.

"Looks like we are really going to die here, but there is no way that I am going down without a fight. You thinking the same Legolas?"

"We will fight till the end."

After one hour of heavy fighting, the Rebel Army slowly find themselves overwhelmed as they begin to lose more of their soldiers. Desperate to turn the battle around, Risty attempted to collapse the castle walls surrounding some of the orcs and uses an explosive Nathan gave her. The plan only worked halfway as many of the orcs are crushed by the falling debris and cuts them off from the main forces, but the Uruk-hai used explosives of their own to get through them, similar to the event in the Battle of Helm's Deep. This only causes more casualties to the Rebel Army soldiers who were caught in the explosion.

"Looks like my plan backfired. If fighting to the death is the only way, then I will stick to it." Risty immediately knocked out three orcs and two soldiers of the Queen's Army in a matter of seconds.

When a Rebel Army soldiers was about to kill a Queen's Army soldier, she was saved when one of the orcs stabbed the enemy soldier with a spear, killing her. As she attempts to get up, much to the Queen's Army and the Rebel Army's surprise, the orc kills the injured soldier. Many begin questioning Sauron.

"The age of man will fall, including the Queen's Army. With both armies weakened, I shall conquer them both." Sauron responded as he kills his interrogators.

"But you are our leader! How could you turn against us like this?" Another Queen's Army soldier continues to question him.

"I am a leader of no man. The Queen you know is nothing more than a tool for my resurrection. Once I am revived, no man shall live the day to see this world."

With Claudette's body being consumed by the armor of Sauron, he begins getting involved in the battle, killing soldiers from both sides and only allying with the orcs. With no other option, the rest of the Queen's Army allied themselves with the Rebel Army to fend off Sauron and his orc army. This prompts Elina to snap out of her confusion and fights alongside Leina once again. With both forces combined, the army is no longer on the defensive as they find themselves pushing the orcs away from the castle before they are surrounded. This resulted in another long period of fighting as neither seemed to gain the upper hand. Despite the differences, the Rebel Army has been shown to be protective of some of the former enemy soldiers.

"You okay?" Risty asked Elina after taking down some of the orcs overwhelming her.

"I am fine, but we have to protect the castle." Elina leaves Risty behind to continue fighting.

"You ungrateful brat!" Risty said as she knocks down another orc.

Sauron watches the battle and does not appear fazed as he continues fighting. "What a futile effort the enemy is showing."

The orcs numbers begin to catch up to them and both forces are finally surrounded with no place to run to.

Annelotte turns to Nathan. "I hope you got other plans Nathan or we will all die here."

"I already used up all of the ammo in my head. The only option left is to keep fighting."

"This is the end." Sauron said as he approaches the two leaders.

**I am not good at writing fanfiction that involves war since there are many sides to look at in a battle. I have one more chapter to go and once this is done, I am retiring from Queen's Blade fanfic for a while, as it is clear that this isn't as developed as its predecessor, but it was fun. Remember to please vote in the polls for my next project after this.**


	11. Chapter 11

With Claudette's body being taken over by Sauron's spirit, he turns against both armies and summons his Orc Army to eliminate his opposition. With such unexpected turn of events, the two leaders find themselves overwhelmed with no way out. Realizing that they are losing the battle, Nathan and Annelotte decided to continue fighting before they themselves were taken out as their army does the same. The Queen's Army, on the other hand, is slowly being massacred by the orcs as they try to fight back.

"It looks like you were telling the truth when you told me that something is wrong with onee-sama. Sorry for not believing you onee-chan." Elina felt regret.

"That is fine Elina, but right now we have to try to free her from Sauron's control." Leina said as she fights off some of the Uruk-hai.

"If you want to help the family, then help me fend some of these orcs away." Leina requested.

"Of course onee-chan." With the two sisters finally on the same side, the rest of the Queen's Army decide to ally themselves with the Rebel Army to fight to the death.

Knowing that Sauron is approaching them, Nathan and Annelotte turns their attention to the evil spirit. Annelotte unlocks her demonic powers and fights Sauron, only to be easily overwhelmed and knocked back.

"Don't just go charging on your own like that! I can already tell that this spirit is stronger than the both of us." Nathan warned.

"Sorry. We need to take out that ring somehow."

"That is what I am still trying to figure out, but with us still being surrounded by his army, it will take longer to come up with something." Nathan explained.

"I will make sure you die before I allow such thing to happen." Sauron, who overheard Nathan, charges at them.

"FIRE!" A shout was heard as a fire arrow suddenly appears and lands between Sauron and the Rebel Army's two leaders.

"That voice. I recognize who this belongs to." Legolas said.

"Is he on our side?" Alleyne asked.

"It appeared that Aragorn followed me to this world. The arrow that was shot was made by the elves of Middle-Earth, my home world."

"Legolas!" Aragorn shows up behind the battle wall.

"Didn't expect you to follow me my friend." Legolas commented.

"I knew that something like this would happen so I gathered as many as I can to follow."

Gimli shows up next. "How about we have another orc slaying contest to see who is the best?"

"You never change, do you Gimli?" Legolas gave off a slight smirk.

"Everyone, come here!" Aragorn's army did as they were told.

Showing up in thousands, Sauron became surprised. "I should have known that Aragorn would find a way here. Everyone, destroy them."

The orcs began charging at the allied forces, but with the odds evened out, Nathan took out a grenade from his jacket.

"Everyone, cover your eyes!" Nathan ordered as he threw the grenade.

Once the grenade exploded, flashes of light began coming out, blinding the orcs and allowing his forces to catch them off-guard. Eventually, the rest did the same as the tide of the battle turns. Sauron then knocks away a few members of both the Queen's Army and Rebel Army before making his way to Aragorn, but Nathan ambushed him.

"Like I will let you take complete control." Nathan takes out his blade and aims at Sauron, but was easily blocked.

"You are definitely someone that shouldn't be underestimated, but like the rest of men, you shall fall."

Sauron and Nathan begin having a swordfight as the rest of the army fights off the orcs. Despite valiant effort, Nathan is slowly overwhelmed as his blade was knocked out of his hand and now only relies on hand-to-hand combat. Despite the handicap, he was able to land a few good blows to Sauron thanks to his martial arts background. Heavily outmatched, Nathan finds himself knocked to the ground as Sauron retrieves his blade, which was knocked away earlier during their battle. Just before Sauron is able to execute him, Annelotte intervenes in her demonic form, pushing Sauron back.

"You are just as interesting as he is. Too bad that you are still man." Sauron turns his attention to Annelotte, saving Nathan's life as he struggles to get up.

"All this training and still I am easily defeated. What will it take to defeat this guy?" Nathan becomes frustrated until Nanael shows up next to him.

"It's not you that is weak Nathan. Sauron's power matches up with the Chief Angel so none of us will be able to match him. We have to get the ring off of him somehow." Nanael explained.

"Hey! If you can still move, we could use some help here!" Aragorn yelled at Nathan.

Nathan's lover, Airi, shows up to check on his condition. "Are you sure you are okay to keep fighting?"

"I can still move freely. Annelotte is taking care of Sauron right now, but to make sure that we at least have a chance of beating him, we must beat his army first."

"It looks like Legolas and our new allies are way ahead of you." Airi took a look at Gimli and Legolas.

"Legolas, how many have you got?" Gimli asks as he swings his axe towards another orc.

"I have already killed 32 before you arrived so I would say 47." Legolas smiled after seeing Gimli's surprised face.

"I will make sure to beat you before this war is over." Gimli said frustrated as he continues slaying more orcs.

Alleyne sighs at the sight of the contest. "Are you guys always like this in a fight?"

"This isn't just limited to battles. Whenever he has an opportunity, Gimli would challenge me to compete in various games, including drinking. Don't worry, this is actually a good sign between both of our races."

Alleyne becomes confused at Legolas' last statement. "How is competition good for both you and Gimli?"

"You see, in Middle-Earth, the dwarfs and elves are often in conflict with each other than when we have to fend off the orcs. Me and Gimli did not get along well when we first met, but that all changed when we are forced to work together in times like this. Since then, both races have been more cooperative towards one another and are willing to work together to defend peace."

"That still doesn't explain the competitions you always hold."

"It was one of the first things we did together in order to get along. It has become a habit for Gimli to challenge me. I did feel that it helped us overcome our differences and it also kept us going whenever we are at battle. Some may question our ways, but whatever works." Legolas explained.

"I see." Alleyne still doesn't understand how competition can lead to cooperation.

Back in the castle, the Rebel Army attempts to make their way inside the castle to rescue the POWs trapped by the Queen, only to be pushed back by the orcs. Luckily for them, the orcs were given a surprise attack by Aldra, who switched sides after Annelotte saved her from the demons that tried to eat her..

"Everyone here okay?" Aldra asked one of the soldiers.

"Yes, but do you know where the prisoners are? That is the reason why we came inside the castle."

"Come to think of it, I saw a couple of people stuck in a moat filled with jelly-like material in the Queen's thrown. The rest of the prisoners have been rescued when I went down to the dungeon. How is the situation outside so far?"

"It's been tough, but new allies suddenly show up to battle so I think the war is turning back to our favor."

"What about Annelotte?"

"Last time I saw, she was fighting against Sauron after he took over the Queen's body. It doesn't look good for her so you better help."

"Understood." Aldra left the thrown after guiding the soldiers.

"Look, it's the Rebel Army! Hey, we are over here!" Tarnyang yelled at them.

"You don't have to yell, we already saw you." One of the soldiers said.

"What is going on right now?" Sainyang asked.

"The battle recently turned to our favor. New allies suddenly show up, but at the same time, we found out that the true mastermind of this war was not the Queen, but an evil spirit manipulating her."

"How do we expel the evil spirit?" Luna Luna asked.

"The ring the spirit is wearing on the Queen's body is what is causing Sauron to take over. Sauron is the spirit responsible and according to our captain, we must take the ring to free the Queen."

"Then let's get out there and help them." Tarnyang got up and immediately heads outside with Sainyang.

"I hope brother is okay." Luna Luna also rushes to battle.

"Watch yourselves, the enemy is no longer the Queen's Army, but the orc army. Only fight the orcs as Sauron wants us to kill each other." The other soldier warned.

"Got it!" All of them replied before heading out.

Meanwhile, Yuit and Vante are also holding their own outside against the orcs.

"It is like there are endless amount of these ugly creatures that keep on coming. When is this going to end?" Yuit complains as Vante continues firing to protect her.

Annelotte finds herself out of breath after a long fight with Sauron, barely lasting longer than Nathan, even in her demonic form. She then desperately tries to figure out a way to remove the ring without killing the Quuen, knowing that Sauron was responsible for the tyranny committed in the Continent.

An elf soldiers spots Sauron and carefully aims his arrow at him. As soon as Sauron lifts his sword, the arrow was shot. The arrow hits his hand, forcing Sauron to release his weapon.

"Aargh! You filthy elf!" Sauron grunts in pain as he removes the arrow from his hand.

Seeing his chance, Nathan ambushes Sauron from behind and reaches for the ring. The orcs saw his attempt, but were blocked by Aragorn and Legolas.

"Just like old times?" Legolas asked.

"Pretty much." Aragorn replied.

Sauron struggles, but Nathan refuses to let go. After Annelotte catches her breath, she also jumps on Sauron in her own attempt to grab the ring, seeing that he has no weapons.

"Brother!" Luna Luna yelled as she reaches outside.

"Don't just stand there, help me grab the ring. We have to free Claudette."

Luna Luna, Tarnyang, and Sainyang head towards Annelotte and Nathan just as Sauron overpowers them, but was restrained before he could shake them off. With five people restraining him, Nathan grabs Sauron's injured and forcefully pulls the ring out of his finger, causing the evil spirit to be slowly expelled from Claudette's body.

"Nathan, throw the ring!" Legolas yelled as soon as he saw the ring was out.

Nathan did as he was told and tossed it up in the air. Seeing this as an opportunity to destroy it, Nanael unleashes some of her energy and finally destroys the ring. After the orcs witness the event, they attempted to retreat to the woods, but were ambushed by another group of elves. Knowing that letting the orcs retreat would lead to another disaster; the elves had no choice, but to massacre them. With the orcs finally gone from the Continent, the war was declared over.

"What happened?" Claudette gets up, but doesn't seem to remember much about what happened.

"Onee-sama, are you awake? Do you remember anything?" Elina anxiously asked.

"Leina? Elina? What happened? Where did you two get these wounds? Why is part of the castle destroyed? Was there a war?" Claudette continues to ask questions about her reign, which had actually been controlled by Sauron.

"It's okay. Whatever happened here is over. There was a war, but that's done. You are still the Queen of this continent." Nathan told Claudette.

"Nathan? When did you return and who are these people?" Claudette took a look at Aragorn's forces.

"We'll explain everything once we clean up a little. Come on, let's go fix what is broken." Leina and Elina took Claudette back inside the castle.

Elina turns around to see Nathan looking at this event and smiles out of gratitude.

"Thanks, for everything." Elina said before she turns back to the castle.

Legolas and Aragorn then had a brief discussion with each other about returning back to Middle-Earth.

"The war is finally over. Looks like we both can finally go home now."

"I will go home eventually, but not at this moment."

"Hey Legolas! I killed over 64. How much did you get?" Gimli interrupted as he passed by.

"73 Gimli. Looks like I won this battle." Legolas smiled.

"Don't think just because you won this battle you've won the whole thing. There will be more challenges once we get home."

"I will be looking forward to this once I return, but not now. I already promised someone to help revive her tribe and I intend on doing that at home, but there are things to take care of first. The orcs committed genocide on her tribe and it pains me to see her alone."

"As long as you are coming home, I will be okay with that. Just remember that the portal won't last forever with Sauron dead so I expect your return."

"Don't worry Aragorn. I will come home eventually."

Alleyne becomes worried after hearing Legolas' decision to return home some day. Feeling that Legolas had no intention to spend time with her, she began to run away. Witnessing this, Legolas rushes to Alleyne and hugs her from behind, causing her to struggle.

"Why are you still after me? You know when you go home you won't be able to see me again." Alleyne begins to cry.

"Alleyne, I still have a promise to fulfill, but I can't do it without you."

"But what is going to happen after that? I overheard you and Aragorn saying that the portal won't last forever. After seeing how much you wanted to help me, I realize how much I wanted to stay with you, but that cannot happen right?"

"It's true that I cannot leave Middle-Earth, but I was hoping to bring you and Nowa there and help start your tribe there."

Hearing this, Alleyne becomes surprised. "Are you asking me to leave my home?"

"It is pretty lonely to live in a place without anyone else. You told me yourself that you are the last elf of your tribe right? Don't you think it is better for you to start all over?"

"There are a lot of things I am going to miss here, but I will probably feel more regret if you and I were not together."

"Then let us stay together. As for our other friends, I can promise that we will all see each other again. I don't know when or how, but there will always be a way."

"I hope that this will happen." Alleyne touches Legolas' hands.

"This is the first time I felt this way. I thank you for that Legolas."

"I will also be troubled if you weren't there. Let us stay like this for a little while longer."

"Yes." Alleyne replied.

A few months later, just as Nathan promised, he brought most of his friends to London to show them the unique environment of his world. As always, they take interest in the most common items such as TVs and airplanes when they saw one flying up in the sky. Annelotte even considered staying in London, but declines as she remembers that her kingdom needs to be restored.

Nathan then holds a party in his mansion and has everyone dressed elegantly to celebrate. When his father asked him what they are celebrating for, he told him that is more of a gathering of his most trusted friends.

"So you think you are satisfied with how you are living your life so far?" His father asked.

"All but one. It is also the most important." Nathan turns and looks at Airi, who seems to be enjoying herself with the rest of the girls and Rana, who came with her with his family.

Once night hits, everyone was asleep in numerous guest rooms. Airi, however, is staring at the night sky still in her party dress on the balcony. Nathan comes to her side and also watches the night sky.

"How is the sky here compared to the Continent?"

"Looks the same, but I feel more at peace." Airi smiled.

"I still remember how you and I met. Things have never been the same since then and now you are here living with me. It's obvious, but I prefer this over my old life where people tried to rob me because of my wealth."

"Glad to know that I helped change for the better. You helped changed my life as well. I can never imagine living a life without you."

"Neither can I." Nathan bends down to one leg as he reaches for a small box in his pocket.

"Nathan, what are you doing?"

"There was something I wanted to do for quite some time now, but being back in the Continent prevented from doing so. Now might be a good time."

"What do you mean?"

Nathan takes out a small black box. "Like I said, I also want to live my life with you, but I feel that we can do better than just living together. I want both of us to experience new things and go to places we never thought we could go to. If we run into trouble, I want us to overcome it together. I love you."

Nathan opens the box, revealing a golden ring with a large piece of diamond. "Will you marry me?"

Airi's face soon turn as red as a tomato, not knowing how to respond to his proposal. After a few minutes, she briefly stares at the ring and smiles.

"Nathan, I love you too. My answer is a yes. I look forward to spending my life with you."

Nathan becomes very excited and picks Airi up out of joy. After both of them calm down, they share a deep kiss as the night goes on.

On the day of the wedding, the ceremony was attended by all of the party guests with Nanael and Elina looking on with jealousy, but remains happy for them. Nathan and Airi's pastor asks both of them if they promise that they will always take care of each other out of happiness and love.

"I do." Airi replied.

"I do." Nathan also replied.

"Then I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Bells were heard as Nathan and Airi share their kiss and then turn their attention to the cheering crowd. Airi tosses her bouquet, which lands on her best friend Nanael, who became happy receiving them. The ceremony then turns into a party with Nathan and Airi taking their wedding photo.

In Middle-Earth, Legolas kept his promise and formed a new tribe for Alleyne and Nowa in his homeland. However, being new to Middle-Earth, they set out to explore their new home to get accustomed, knowing that the Continent can no longer be visited. Despite this, they remain optimistic that they can see the rest of their friends eventually.

Alleyne and Legolas are then seen watching over their forest while holding hands with each other.

"Legolas, how long do you think this peace can last?"

"As long as it can." Legolas responded and kissed Alleyne on her forehead.

As for Claudette, she begins focusing on recovery efforts on kingdoms she never intended to destroy and begins changing her economic policies to avoid corruption and mutiny that caused the Rebel Army to form. With the Queen's Blade tournament now made legal again, she prepares with her two other sisters to defend her title.

What all three worlds have in common is hope that they will see each other again, which Nanael is currently working on back in Heaven.

**It is finally finished. Sorry that it is not as descriptive or developed as "The Love of the Wraith", but I am really desperate to work on newer fanfics. I had fun, but at the same time, disappointed of the relationship between Legolas and Alleyne, because it didn't feel developed enough. I am retiring from Queen's Blade fanfics, but don't give up hope. If you have an idea, write it on your own and feel free to use my story if you wish, such as if you are making a sequel or prequel. Thank you to all who supported this.**


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